CIHM 

ICIVIH 

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Collection  de 

Series 

microfiches 

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Canadian  Inttit Jta  for  Historical  Microraproductiont  /  Inatitut  Canadian  da  microraproductions  hittoriquas 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes  /  Notes  technique  et  bibliographiques 


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the  images  in  the  reproduction,  or  which  may 
significantly  change  the  usual  method  of  filming  are 
checked  below. 


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Coloured  covers  / 
Couverture  de  couleur 

Covers  damaged  / 
Couverture  endommagee 

Covers  restored  and/or  laminated  / 
Couverture  restauree  et/ou  pelllculee 

Cover  title  missing  /  Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 

Coloured  maps  /  Cartes  geographiques  en  couleur 

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Blank  leaves  added  during  restoratk>ns  may  appear 
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apparaissent  dans  le  texte,  mais,  torsque  cela  6tait 
possible,  ces  pages  n'ont  pas  6t6  filmdes. 


L'Institut  a  microfilme  le  meilleur  examplaire  qu'il  lui  a 
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ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une  modifications  dens  la  meth- 
ode  .lormale  de  filmage  sont  indiques  ci-dessous. 

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'-^      Pages  decolorees,  tachet^s  ou  piquees 

I     I      Pages  detached  /  Pages  detachees 

r^      Showthrough  /  Transparence 

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Includes  supplementary  material  / 
Comprend  du  materiel  supplementaire 

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feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure,  etc.,  ont  6te  filmees 
a  nouveau  de  fagon  a  obtenir  la  meilleure 
image  possible. 

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discolourations  are  filmed  twice  to  ensure  the 
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ayant  des  colorations  variables  ou  des  decol- 
orations sont  filmees  deux  fois  afin  d'obtenir  la 
meilleur  image  possible. 


D 


Additronal  comments  / 
Commentaires  suppl^mentaires: 


This  itwn  is  f ilmad  at  tti«  raduction  ratio  ctiaekad  btlow/ 

Ca  documant  att  film4  au  taux  '  a  rMuction  mdiqui  ci-dattoin. 


1CX 

14X 

itx 

22X 

2«X 

»x 

7 

12X 


ttx 


20X 


24X 


2tx 


i2t 


Th«  copy  filmed  h«r«  has  b««n  raproducad  thanks 
to  tha  ganarosity  of: 

BibliotMque  gintrale. 
University  Laval, 
Quibec,  Quibac. 

Tha  imagas  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  bast  quality 
possibia  eonsldaring  tha  condition  and  iagibility 
of  tha  original  copy  and  in  kaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  apacif icationa. 


Original  eopias  in  printad  papar  eovars  ara  filmad 
beginning  with  tha  from  covar  and  anding  on 
tha  last  paga  with  a  printad  or  illustratad  impraa- 
sion,  or  tha  back  covar  whan  appropriata.  All 
othar  original  eopias  ara  filmad  beginning  on  tha 
first  paga  with  a  printad  or  illustratad  impraa- 
sion.  and  anding  on  tha  laat  paga  with  a  printad 
or  illuatratad  impreasion. 


Tha  laat  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  <^  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  ▼  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 

Mapa,  plates,  charts,  etc..  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  comer,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bonom.  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


L'exempiaira  film*  fut  reproduit  grice  k  la 
gAnirosit*  de: 

BibliotMque  ginirale, 
Univeriiti  Laval, 
Quibec,  Quebec. 

Les  images  suivantas  ont  «t«  raproduitss  avac  Is 
plus  grand  soin.  compta  tenu  de  la  condition  at 
de  la  nattet*  de  l'exempiaira  film«,  at  tn 
conformity  avac  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmaga. 

Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couvarturo  an 
papier  eat  lmprim«a  sont  filmte  en  commen^ant 
per  le  premier  plat  at  %n  tarminant  soit  par  la 
derni«re  paga  qui  comporta  une  emprainte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  la  aacond 
ptat.  salon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  filmte  an  commandant  par  la 
premiere  pege  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  at  an  tarminant  par 
la  derni*re  pege  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparattra  sur  la 
darnlAre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  salon  la 
cas:  la  symboia  «»  signifia  "A  SUIVRE".  le 
symbols  ▼  signifie  "FIN". 

Les  cartea.  planches,  tableaux,  etc..  peuvent  «tre 
film«s  *  des  taux  de  rMuction  diff«rents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  *tra 
reproduit  en  un  seul  cllch*.  il  est  film*  A  partir 
de  Tangle  sup«rieur  gauche,  de  gauche  *  droita, 
at  de  haut  en  bas.  en  prenant  la  nombra 
d'imagea  n«cassaire.  Les  diagrammas  suivants 
illustrant  la  m«thode. 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

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MICROCOPY    RESOLUTION   TEST   CHART 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


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mim 

2.0 
1.8 


1.6 


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THE 


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SYMBOL  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


/ 


A  VINDICATION  OF  THE  APOSTOLIC  AUTHORSHIP 
\>  T  ^^  ^"^  CREED  ON  THE    LINES  OF 
r-^  CATHOLIC  TRADITION. 


993 


BY  THE 

VERY  REV.  ALEXANDER  MacDONALD,  D.D., 

Vicar-General  of  the  Diocese  of  Antigonish,  Nova  Scotia. 


NEW  YORK 

Christian  Press  Association  Pubwshino  Company, 
26  barclay  street 

1903 


fmprimatut* 


*  JOHN  CAMERON. 

Bishop  of  Antigonish. 


nibil  Obetat. 


Remioius  Lafort,  S.T.L., 

Censor. 


fmptlmatttr. 

*  JOANNES  M.  FARLEY,  D.D., 

Archbishop  of  New  York. 

August  S,  1903. 


COPTRiaRTED,  1908. 


TO 
THE  EIGHT    REVEREND 

a^ottjBetgnor  <(Bui$tabe  €ontatio» 

FORMER  RECTOR  OP  THE 

URBAN  COLLEaE  OF  PROPAGANDA  FIDE, 

MY  SUPERIOR  FOR  PIVE  YEARS, 

MY  TRUE  FRIEND  ALWAYS, 

THIS 

LITTLE  WORK  IS  LOVINOLY 

DEDICATED. 


•AvT^v  6k  T^v  oftoXoyiav  r^f  niareuc  eJf  Uaripa  Kai  'Tibv  Kat 
iyiov  UvEvfia  U  Koiuv  ypa/ifidruv  ixofiei>;—ST.  BASIL,  Lib.  de 
Spirit.  Sanct,  c.  27,  n.  67. 

^  'Ettov  rv  Gf^-  .  .  .  ro  adv,  ro  ayapdf,  rd  ava<paiperov  fi6vov,  r,> 
«f  rov  Qebv  niariv,  rr/v  f<f  rdv  naOdpra  6ftoloyiav  .  .  .  KeKTr/fuvog. 

—St.  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Paed.,l.  2,  c.  3. 

In  symbolo  fldei  et  spei  nostrae,  quod,  ab  Apostolis 
traditum,  non  scribitur  in  charta  et  atramento  sed  in 
tabulis  cordis  carnalibus,  post  confessionem  Trinitatis  et 
unitatem  Ecclesiae,  omne  Christiani  dogmatis  sacramentum 
carnia  resurrectione  conoluditur.— St.  Jerome,  Contr. 
Joan.  Hieroaol.,  n.  28. 


PREFACE. 


The  nucleus  of  the  present  work  is  a  series 
of  articles  which  ran   in  The   Ecclesiastical 
Review  from  January  to  July  of  the  current 
year.     They  are  reproduced  from  that  Maga- 
zine by  kind  permission  of  the  Editor,  and, 
with  sundry  changes  and  additions,  form  the 
contents  of  chapters  one  to  six  inclusive.    The 
rest  is  new  matter,  including  the  Introduction 
on  the  Discipline  of  the  Secret,  which  is  the 
foundation   whereon    the   whole   work    rests. 
For    convenience    of    reference,   the    several 
chapters  are  divided  into  sections,  having  each 
its  propf    heading. 

While  these  pages  were  being  written,  one 
or  two  notable  articles  on  the  Name  of  the 
Church  appeared  in  The  Ecclesiastical  Review 
and  Dolphin^  over  the  pen-name  "Propa- 
gandist." By  special  request  the  writer  of 
those  articles  has  contributed  the  closing  chap- 
ter on  the  origin  of  the  Catholic  Name. 

8 


f 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 


I.  Meaning  of  "Symbol." 
II.  Confusion  of  Ideas. 

III.  Ruflnus  and  Swainson. 

IV.  A  Boomerang. 

V.  The  Discipline  of  the  Secret. 
VI.  Sacraments,  Sacrifice,    and 

Symbol. 
VII.  Reasons  for  Secrecy. 


VIII.  The  Precept  of  the  Master, 
IX.  A  Second  Century  Witness. 
X.  A  Cloud  of  Witnesses. 
XI.  Further  Testimony. 
XII.  In  the  Heart  of  the  New 

Testament. 
XIII.  "Lead,  Kindly  Light." 


CHAPTER  I. 
Apostolic  Authorship  of  the  Symbol. 

I.  The  Tradition.  y.  The  Symbol  and  the  Discipline 


II.  Witnesses  to  the  Tradition. 
HI.  Testimony  of  Rufinus. 
IV.  The  Tradition  and  the  Legend. 


of  the  Secret, 
f.  Testimony  of  Eastern  Fathers, 
(.  Conclusion. 


CHAPTER  II. 
The  Quest  of  the  Symbol. 

n  Trs?rh!Im"'"'"''-  ""•  ''*'"  ^™«'' "»  Tertulllan. 

iiT   M  !vf^.     .   r°°*-  ^^-  Th"  Creed  in  Irenaeus. 

III.  Method  of   Historical    Criti-    VII.  Conclusion 

cism. 

IV.  The  Creed  in  the  Third  Cen- 

tury. 


I,  Hamack's 
ment. 


CHAPTER  III. 
Harnack  on  the  Creed. 

Mental     Equip-     II.  Specimens 
Work, 

9 


of    His    Critlcai 


CONTENTS. 


III.  Original  Text  of  the  Old  Ro-       VI.  Irenffiua  Misconstrued 

,„  „'"'"' P'^^f-    _  VII.  TertuUian  not  Duly  Weighed. 

IV.  Measuring  Creeds  with  a  Tape  VIII.  "  Contesserarit." 

„  ,^'°*-  IX.  Conjectures. 

V.  Harnack'a    Theory    on     the 
Origin  of  the  Creed. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

St.  Augustine  and  the  Authorship  of  the  Symbol. 

I.  St.  Augustine   and  the  An- 
cient Tradition. 
II.  The  Homily  de  Symbolo  ad 
Catechuinenos. 
III.  Further  Proofs  of  its  Spuri- 
ousness. 


IV.  A  Paradox  and  its  Elucidation. 
V.    ^he  Fallacy  of  Silence. 
VI.  .  .n  Important  Testimony. 
VII.  The  Gospel  m  a  Nutshell. 


CHAPTER  V. 
The  Symbol  in  the  Bast. 


I.  The  Nicene  Creed  No  New 

Creed. 
II.  Counterpart  of  the  Old  Ro- 
man Symbol. 

III.  Testimony  of  St.  Basil. 

IV.  Creed  of  Jerusalem. 
V.  A  Sister's  Daughter. 

VI.  Creed  of  Marcellus. 
VII.  Testimony  of  St.  Hilary. 


VIII.  The  Unwritten  Creed. 

IX.  Origen's  "  Plain  Rule." 
X.  Symbol  of  Alexandria. 

XI.  Justin  and  Ignatius. 
XII.  A  Sldeglance. 

XIII.  "Handed    Down    from 
Apostles." 

XIV.  A  Belated  Witness. 


the 


CHAPTER  VI. 


The  Symbol  In  the  Second  Century. 


I.  A  Flimsy  Theory. 
II.  Demolished  by  TertuUian. 

III.  "  The  Skipprr  from  Pontus." 

IV.  The  Pre-Marcionite  Confes- 

sion. 
V.  The  Oath  of  Allegiance. 
VI.  The  Christian  P.issword. 
VII.  The  Fundamental  Law. 


VIII.  Evidence  Subjective  and  Ob- 
jective. 
IX.  The  Rule  of  Faith. 
X.  Meaning  of  "  Regula." 
XI.  A  Guess. 

XII.  Converted  into  a  Certainty. 
XIH.  An  Instructive  Parallel. 


10 


CONTENTS. 


I.  A  Passaf^e  In  Pliny. 
II.  Guarding  the  Dep'^sit 
III.  "Abnegare." 


CHAPTER  Vn. 
The  Synbol  in  the  Sub-Apostolic  Age. 

IV.  The  Oath  of  the  Catechumen. 


V.  The  Old  Roman  Creed. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
The  Symbol  in  the  New  Testament 


I.  State  of  the  Question. 
II.  An  Objection  Met. 

III.  The  Stream  of  Tradition. 

IV.  The  Broad  Fact  of  Catholi- 

cism. 
V.  The  C."  .ibol  and  the  Script- 
ure. 


VI.  Scriptural  Allusions. 
VII.  The  Pattern  of  Sound  Words. 
VIII.  Summing  up  the  Case. 

IX.  A  r.inple  Parable. 
X.  Harnack's  Guesswork. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
Drawn  Up  by  the  Tivelve. 

The  Abb6  Fouard's  Theory.      IV.  Ruflnus  Speaks  for  Himself. 


I. 

II.  The  Unaltered  Symbol. 
lU.  A  Two-edged  Objection. 


IV. 
V.  An  Additional  Proof. 
VI.  Primary  Purpose  of  the  Symbol. 


CHAPTER  X. 
The  Kerygma  and  the  Symbol. 

I.  The  Rule  of  Faith.  VI.  A  Case  of  Felo  de  8e 

11.  No^a  Definite  Formulary.  VII.  The  Rule  and  Symbol  One. 

VIII.  Corroborative  Proof. 


III.  A  Plentiful  Lack  of  Clear- 


ness. 

IV.  St.  Cyprian's  Rule. 
^.  Light  and  Darkness. 


IX.  A  Spurious  Criticism. 


CHAPTER  XI. 
Meeting  Objections. 

I.  Dr.  Schaff  Holds  a  Brief.  III.  Two  More  Worthless  Pleas 

IL  The  Fallacy  of  Silence  Again. 


I. 

n 


CHAP'.  ^R  XII. 
The  Articles  of  the  Creed. 

The  Object  of  Our  Faith.  Vi:.    The  Drama  of  Redemption 


■!■  ■ 


An  "  Article  "  of  Faith. 


VIII.  The  Fourth  Article. 
11 


CONTENTS. 


HI.  The  Unseen  Element. 
IV.  Four  Other  Articles. 
V.  Holy  Church. 
VI.  Two  Citations  In  Point. 


Redeemer,    Sanctl- 


IX.  Creator, 

fler. 

X.  The  Seventh  Article. 
XI.  The  Twelfth  and  Last. 
XII.  A  Legend  and  Its  Source. 


CHAPTER  Xin. 


I.  T>  e  Apostles'  Creed  and  the 
Old  Roman  Symbol. 
II.  Self-explaining  Additions. 
TTT  I^^  Communion  of  Saints. 
IV.  The  Wora  "  ruthoUc." 
V.  The  Name  Cathc'.ic. 
VI.  From  an  Histf.rical  Point  of 
View. 


The  Additions  to  the  Creed. 

VII 


A    Question 
ment. 

VIII.  The  Church  One  and  Visible. 
IX.  A  Specious  Objection. 
X.  A  Divine  Organism. 
XI.  The    Roman   Symbol 

vised. 
XII.  The  Word  "Father." 
XIII.  The  Forgetful  CrlMo. 


of    Vital   Mo- 


Unro- 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Name  Catholic. 

I.  A  Rejected  Hypothesis.  yi    t«„  „  ^  « 

T    ._-.L      „  ^^- Jew  and  Oentile, 


II.  Another  Hypothesis. 
m.  Catholic  and  Christian 
IV.  A  Many-Nationed  Church 

V.  Patriotlam  and  Religion. 


J"-  A  Crisis  In  the  Church. 
VIII.  The  Church  Catholic. 
IX.  True  Comprehensiveness. 


12 


Meaning  op 
"  Symbol." 


I. 

From    immemorial     time    the 
Apostles'  Creed  has  gone  by  the 

name  of  the  Symbol,  or  the  Sym-     

bol  of  the  Apostles.     This  word  is  from  the 
Greek ^o,Mo.    .tx,ken,»  i„  niilitary  language, 
watchword,"  m  commercial  parlance,  «  bar- 
gavi      or  "agreement."     It   is   made  up  of 
^a^;.  and  .-,  ^i,e„ce  <ro,^aU.,  "I  throw  or  put 
together.       The  root-meaning  of  the  word  i,,, 
therefore,  a  putting  together,  a  putting  this 
and  that  together,  and  the  thing  so  put  to- 
gether.     Rufinus  (A.D.  390  or  400)  held  that 
the  Apostles  themselves  gava  the  Creed  this 
name  of  Symbol.     He  teUs  us  that  there  were 
good  reasons  and  sound  "  why  they  should 
so  name  it.     «  For,  in  Greek,  the  word  sumbol 
may  mean  both  a  sign  and  a  coUation-a  col- 
lation bemg  what  many  bring  together  into  a 

13 


Ui 


INTRODUCTION. 


common  fund.     This  the  Apostles  did  in  their 
conference;  they  brou^rht  together  into  a  com- 
mon fund  wliat  each  thought.     And  it  [tlie 
Creed]  is  called  an  index  or  watchword,  be- 
c.     e  at  that  time,  as  tlie  Apostle  Paul  tells  us, 
1  Cor.  c   11,  and  [as  we  are  told]  in  the  Acts 
ojthe  Apostles,  c.  15,  there  were  many  Jews 
who   pretended   that    they   were   apostles   of 
Uirist  and  went  about  for  the  sake  of  gain,  or 
of  making  a  living,  naming  indeed  the  name 
ot  Christ  but  not  preaching  Him  arter  the  full 
lines  of  the  h-adition.     Therefore  the  Apostles 
fixed  upon  this  index,  whereby  might  be  rec 
ogni/ed  the  man  whc      .^oht^A  r!K.;„^  :„  x_.-., 
accordinof  to  tl 


Symh.  Apost  n.  2 


Apos    lie  rule."— Cow 


ra.  in 


n. 

Co^.KoP|       "As  early  as  the  time  when  the 
'•  commentary  ascribed  to  Rufinus 

«A     1..    ,      '''^' '^^"'P^^H"  writes  Swainson ' 

doubts  had  arisen  amongst  Latin  writers  as 

to  the  origin  of  this  designation:    confusion 

1  The  Nicene  and  Apostles'  Creeds,  p.  173. 

14 


INTRODUCTION. 


had  arisen  between  foii^oXov,  a  mark  or  sio-n,  and 
ffu;i,3oXr;,  a   collation  or  joint   contribution  :  or 
rather,   attempts   were    made    to    ascribe   to 
ao/x,3oXov  the  Sig  lification  of  Tu,afioX^;'     This  is 
far  from  a  true  account  of  the  matter.     Rufinus 
was  too  good  a  Greek   scholar  to   confound 
<T0fii3.,h,.  with  fT(j,ai3oXr;.    ^hat  he  did  was  to  dis- 
tinj^uish    between    the    received    meaning  of 
,to;mi3oXo,  and  its  etymological   meaning,   which 
the  author  (St.  Ambrose  ?)  of  tlie  Uxjylanatio 
calls  "  rationem  nominis,"  and  to  put  forward 
the  very  plausible  suggestion  that,  whether  you 
consider  the  one  meaning  or   the  other,  the 
word  ^s  a  fitting  designation   of   the   Creed. 
Harnacl:  is  equally  wide  of  the  truth  when  he 
wrif^es  ;  ''  The  contention  that  this  later  creed 
or  symbol  [the    Textus  Receptus']  traced  its 
origin  to  a  'ro!i^»Xyj  or  collatlo  involves  a  con- 
fusion between  'roiiftoirj^  which   also   bears  the 
meaning  of  summa  or  hrevis  complexioy  and 
ab[ipoh,v,  that  is  signicm,  indicium,  in  the. sense 
not  only  of  a  distinction   between    Christians 
and  heretics,  but  also  in  the  sense  of  tessera 
7tiilitum,  a  token   or   deed  of   agreement "  ' 
»  The  Apostles'  Creed,  p.  10. 

15 


posed   the  Creed   Z      1  ^^'^^^  ««■»- 

''hat    portions    of  H      ^    ^'   '"  <•«'«"»»« 

sjo„,d^e.Cd;^rj~  sj. '' 

eonfoundiug  .»mI  '  f ''  *«  S^nbo],  „ot 
back  to  the  common  root  of  hntU  j  ^  "^ 
"act  wonld  have  Jhl  t"""^'-    ^'"^ 

an  indication  of  thr,V^''  """  ^''^^  f""'"' 
Creed  by  the  Ipost  "    h""'^'*""""  "*  ^^e 
whereasfon  tlt'o"     "    the"""  "'""''"'" 
tbey  found  warrant  for  tw7  "'""'T'^  "■»' 
tbe  joint  composition      Th  ""  *'"  ^"''"^ 

old  commentaCtom  r  V-'^/''""  "^  "'e 
that  the  Creed   was  ?,     """^  '''"'"' '»  »«« 

Twelve  because  it ri,Cs'  Tt."'  "" 
it  is  called  the  Svmbol  1  ^'"''' ''"'  *'"" 

work  of  the  TwtC      T^rr  "  T  *''«•''""' 
«-t  has  got  thiSli«--'''-t  they, 


IG 


INTRODUCTION. 


III. 

served  "1^  ''  '''V'''  ^^"^^^  "^  ^^^  - 
servea  as  a  tessera  and  watchword  ■    Swakson. 

from  the  time  of  the   Apostles,    '' 

first  to  enable  the  faithful  to  distinguish  true 
from  false  teachers  of  the  Gospel,  Ldag^n 
to  enable  them  to  recognize  one  another.     "  l" 
fine,  as  happens  in  civil  war,"  he  writes, "  where 
men  wear  the  same  dress,  and  speak  the  same 
language,  and   fight  after    the    same    fa",- 
■on,  each  leader  gives  his  soldiers  a  distinct 
watchword    ,n  Latin  called  «j„„,„  or  i,^ 
cum,  so  that  there  may  be  no  Zoom  for  decdt 
or  treachery.     And  if  anyone  is  s-^pectedTr. 
being  asked  to  give  the  watchword,  he  wi 

^howwhetherheisanenemyora'friLd" 
Swamson  (/oe.  ott.)  deems  it  needless  to  dwell 

on  •'  he  futdity  of  this  explanation.     RufiZs 

forgot,"  he  says,  "that  followers  of  the  Apo 

ohc  tradition  might  become  schismatics  oreven 

.e..t,ca^  as  to  points  not  distinctly  enunciated 

n  this  document    (sic),  and   then  carry  away 

their  watchword  into  the  enemies'  camp!     We 

must  look  out,"  he  goes  on  to  say,  "  for  another 

4  17 


INTRODUCTION. 


explanation  :  and  we  have  it  in  the  circum- 
stances of  the  third  century,  when  the  precept 
ot  the  Saviour,   that   the   Gospel   should   be 
preached  to  every  creature,   became  checked 
by  the  prevalent  persecutions;  and  the  example 
set  by  bt.  Paul,  when  he  stood  before  Affrippa 
was,   from    the  same  causes,  deprived  of   its 
force      Driven    unwillingly    to    see^ocy,    the 
Christians,    with    a   not   unnatural   aptitude, 
began  to  represent  to  themselves  and  others 
that  this  secrecy  had  its      .vantages;  that  in 
point  of  fact  It  was  m  itself  desirable  " 

There  are  many  things  here  set  down  that 
will  not  bear  close  scrutiny.     First  of  all,  the 
reason   relied  on  by  Swainson   to   prove   the 
futility  of  the  explanation  given  by  Rufi„us  is 
Itself   futde.     Rufinus  did   not   forget:   it  is 
Swainson  rather  who  forgot,  though  he  had 
the  words  of  Rufinus  before  his  eyes  while  he 
wrote.     The  latter  distinguished  two  uses  of 
tlie  bymbol  as  a  watchword,  one  of  which  was 
to  serve  as    a  badge  of   the   true  apostle  of 
Christ  m   the  preaching   ot  the  Gospel,   the 
other  to  serve  as  a  badge  of  the  true  Christian 
and  mark  him  off  from  the  unbeliever.     «  And 

18 


INTRODUCTION. 


thus    they    [^majores;     ^forefathers    in   the 
faith/]  handed  it  down,"  are  the  concluding 
words  of  the  passage  in  Rufinus  as  reproduced 
by   Swamson   himself  (he.   ciU),  "that  their 
watchword  should  not  be  written  on  paper  or 
parchment  but  retained  in  the  hearts  of  the 
believers,  so  that  there  could  be  no  doubt  that, 
if  anyone  knew  it,  he  must  have  received  it 
from  the  Apostles  by  tradition,  and   not  by 
reading  it  in  a  book;  for  a  book  perchance 
might  fall  into  the  hands  of  unbelievers."     Cer- 
tainly as  against  the  "  Jews  who  pretended  to 
be  apostles  of  Christ,  and  named  His  name  but 
did  not  preach  Him  after  the  full  lines  of  the 
tradition,"  the  Symbol  must  have  proved  a  serv- 
iceable dovice ;  for   it  followed  faithfully  the 
lines  of  the  tradition,  and  could  not  therefore 
be  adopted  by  men  who  did  not  keep  to  these 
lines.     Those  «  false  brethren  "  would  not  give 
the  watchword  even  if  they  could.     As  for  the 
pagans,  o^   the  other  hand,  they  could  not  if 
they  would.     But  what  if  "  followers  of  the 
Apostolic  tradition  should  become  schismatics 
or  even  heretics,and  carry  away  the  watchword 
into  the  enemies'  camp  ?  "     To  thistkai^s  a 

19 


INTRODUCTION 

threefold  rejoinder.     (1)  Traitors  may  befound 
m  every  camp,  but  not  the  less  do  leaders  stiU 
give  then-  men  the  Watchword.     (2)  The  o-reat- 
est  possible  precaution  was  taken  in  the*'early 
Church  to  guird  the  Symbol :  it  was  only  after 
a  long  period  of  probation,  years  even,  that  it 
was  delivered  to  the  catechumen,  who  was  re- 
quired, on  the  day  of  his  baptism,  to  take  a 
solemn  oath  that  he  wotUj  not  betray  it.     The 
instances  then,  would  be  exceedingly  rare  in 
which  a  Christian  would  do  the  baselhlg  tilt 
Swamson  suggests-carry  away  the  watchword 
iito  the  enemies'  camp.     (3)  It  was  not  from 
he  schismatic  nor  the  heretic  that  Christians 
had  to  apprehend  the  betrayal  of  their  Symbol, 
but  from  the  apostate  to  paganism.    Schisma- 
tics and  heretics  were  in  the  same  case  with 
orthodox  believe.,  when  there  was  question  of 
persecution  on  the  part  of  the  pagans.     If  they 
fell  into    he  clutches  of  the  persecutor,  they, 
too    would  Ijave  been  called  on  to  renouncj 
Chnst  and    faihng  this,  would  have  been  put 
to  death.     As  a  matter  of  fact  we  find  TerhU- 
lan  upbraiding  the  heretics  of  his  day  with 
their  want  of  care  in  hiding  the  mysteries  from 
-20 


■mr-wm^ 


limiODtrcTION. 

the  uninitiated.  "  In  the  fir^t  r.U^^  "  u 
"  if  ;<,  j„  1,^1  1  /"."'<' ""^st  place,  he  says, 
t  IS  doubtful  who  is  a  catechumen,  ,vlio  a 
behever  among  the  heretics.  They  have  aU 
access  ahke  they  hear  alike,  they  pray  alike; 
even  ,f  heathens  come  in  upon  them,  they  vvil 

false  though  they  be,  before  swine."  ■ 


A  Boomer- 
ang. 


IV. 

Swainsonc  objection  recoils 
upon  himself.  If  "  Rufinu^  ^^ 
got  that  followers  of  the  Apos- 
tolic tradition  might  become"  apostates  in  the 
first  century,  «  and  then  carry  away  their  watch- 
word mto  the  enemies'  camp,"  Swainson  forgot 
tha  the  same  tinng  might  happen  in  the  thW 
century  ,v,th  the  same  result.     It  could  have 

happenedbutvery,  very  seldom,  it  is  true; 
for,  besides  the  reason  given  above,  it  would 
have  proved  difficult  for  a  pagan,  ev'en  should 
he  sncceed  m  getting  the  Symbol,  to  give 
It  out  article  by  article,  and  word  by  word  so 

-not  at  least  to  arouse  su.picion,Ub;in; 

*  -De  Fraesc,  41. 

21 


INTRODUCTION. 

to  the  manner  trained.    Bat  there  can  be  no 

,      douU  tt  e  .did  happen  once  in  a  while,  and 

that  traitor  hps    betrayed  believers  with  the 

And  as  there  were  traitors  in  the  first  cen- 
tury  as  well  as  in  the  third,  so  were  there  per- 
^ecutors,  so  was  there  persecution.  SwainL 
tells  us  .t  was  not  till  the  third  century  the 
prevalent  persecutions  drove  the  Christians  to 
secrecy,  and  that  it  was  then  the  i>.Va>fi„„ 
Arcam  arose.     But  surely  this  is  to  fly  i^  the 

for  the  first  three  hundred  years  of  her  ex 
-tence  ,s  little  else  than  a  record  of  t  e  pel 
secutzons,    fierce    and    frequent,   which  The 
Ch„st«.ns  bore  with  such  heroic    eonstaney 

;r     1"      r  P«'^«™t«'l   i«  Palestine,  and 
when  they  themselves  were  crushed  aJd  aU 
but  extirpated   by    the   conquering  Bomans 
paganism  persecuted  to  the  full  extent  of  iS 

""^*  '^  ^''<'«««'  "o  arena  but  had  run  red 

22 


The  Disci- 
pline OF  THE 
Secret. 


with   the   blood  of  martyrs.     If  persecution 

Zr^!  l^'^-"'''r  ''="«<'  -hen  Stephen 
won   h.8   crown    ,n  Jerusalem,  and   Peter  in 

^rely   d,d  there  east  the  Discipline  of  the 
Secret  from  the  very  infancy  of  the  Church 

V. 

What  then  was  this  Discipline 
of  the  Secret,  and  when   was  it 
hrst  set  m  operation,  and  whv^ 
The  name  Msoiplina  Aroani    is    relativelv 
recent;  the  system  described  by  th    nlme  ^ 
o^d  as  the  Catholic  Church.     They  r2l  th! 

IZ  ^.77'"' r ''''''  '""'^'^^^^^^^^ 

th.  V  «  r  *'""''  "^  "  fi^«<l  '«««lve  from 
the  very  first,  on  the  part  of  the  Founder  o" 
Chr.st>an,ty,  to  withhold  the  mysteries  of  ffif 
rehgaon  from  the  profane,  and'commit  them 
o^.ly  to  members  of  the  household  of  the  fail? 

tinctlydecUresthaturtblmtV-^ilt 


INTRODUCTION. 


know  the  mystep.es  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  " 

out!^lJ^'        !  """'"  """'^  *'""  »»  '^th- 
ou  all  things  are  done  in  parables  "  (Mark  4 : 

il)-      St.  Paul  lays   special   emphasis  every, 
where  on  this  principle  of  secrecy.     He  sefs 
.n  the  ministers  of  Christ  "the  dUpensers  of 
the  mysteries   of  God "  (1   Cor.  4 :  1).     He 
would  have  "the  wisdom  of  God,  a  wisdom 
which  IS  hidden,"  spoken  "in  a  my'steryT" and 
only  "  among  the  perfect "  (lb.  2  .•  6,  7)--the 
competentes  of  a  later  day.     He  asks  the  Ephe^ 
sians  to  pray  for  him  that  he  may  «  with  con- 

!hl  ■}  t.  ^'i  ^^*'   •'•"  ^'^^^^''^^^   ^''Plains 
hat  It  ,s  "  to  the  saints  "  of  God  the  mystery 

m   question  is  to   be  unfolded   (Col.   1 :   26) 

!r  "  :,  '  '"*"■''■'  "^  ''«^™»«  t''^'  Aey  should 
hold  "he  mystery  of  faith  in  a  p4  con- 
science."    (1  Tim.  3:9). 


VI. 

As  for  the  things  which  came 

under   the  rule  of  secrecy,   we 

learn  that  they  were  chieflv  tli» 

words  which  make  u.    .hat's  now  knZ  as 

24: 


SacramexVts, 

Sacrifice, 

AND  Symbol. 


INTRODUCTION. 


the  J  form      of  the   several   Sacraments,  the 
Euchanstic  service,  and  the  Symbol,  not  only 
as  enshrining  the  principal  mysteries  of  religion 
but  especially  as  being  the  Watchword  given 
to  the  soldier  of  Christ  in  his  warfare  with  the 
pagan   world.     On   this  head  Professor  Zahn 
extracts  valuable  testimony  from  the  DldaM 
or      Teaching   of  the    Twelve   Apostles,"  a 
work  composed  some  time  between  80  and  130 
A.   D.     "This   book,"  are  his  words,  "with 
deliberate  intention,  gives  only   fragmentary 
directions  with  reference  to  baptism,  as  with 
reference  to  the  Lord's  Supper.     For  example, 
the  service  of  Holy  Communion  itself  is  not 
described   at  aU.     Only   forms  of  prayer  are 
^ven  which  are  to  be  used  before  and  during 
the  celebration.     Already  at  the  time  of  St. 
Paul  s  first  missionary  journey,  that  the  can- 
didate  for   baptism   was   accustomed  to  offer 
a  confession  of  faith  when  he  received  baptism 
was  borne  witness  to  by  St.  Paul  himself— 
superfluously,  for  it  is  self-evident.      He  re- 
minds Timothy  of  the  beautiful  confession  he 
once  made   before   the  assembled  community 
when   he  followed   the   caU  to   eternal   hfe " 

2& 


I 


INTRODUCTION. 


that  the  Chmhans  .„  Asia  Mino.  were  in  the 
aabit  of  holding  secret  meetings  before  dav- 
I'ght  and  that  they  bonnd  themselves  by  oath 
not  to  g.ve  up  a  "  deposit,"  which  is  identified, 
in  a  later  chapter  of  the  present  work,  with 
the  Confess.      ,f  F-ith.-    It  appears  also  from 
th.s  letter  of  Pliny's  that  the  Christians  were 
reg.arded  as  members   of  an  extensive    secret 
society,  whereof  the  brotherhoods  (hetaeriae) 
were  proscribed  by  an  imperial  edict.= 

In  the  Acts  of  the  martyrdom  of  Pope 
Alexander  First,  ws  find  decisive  evidence  of 
the  existence  of  the  discipline  of  secrecy  in  sub- 
apostobc  times.     Alexander  suffered  for   the 
Faith  in  the  last  year  of  Trajan's  reign.     The 
precise  date  is  May  3,  A.  D.  117.    The  Acta  of 
his  martyrdom,  which  the  BoUandists  speak  of 
f     ^fncerissima,"  plainly   genuine   and  free 
trom  interpolation,  were  drawn  up  before  the 

^^<i'^Ti'^Zl%X"'"'  "''^  "™"^"*'^  "•'  °-  «• 

»  See  Chap.  VII. 
•  C.  Plin.  et  TraJ.  Epist.  96  (97). 

26 


M  t1 


INTRODOCTIOW. 

persecution   under  Decius  (A.  D.   249-251) 
Count  Aurelianus,"  we  read,  "ordered  Pope 
Ale«,nder  to  be  brought  before  him,  and  said 
to  h:m :     I  require  you  first  (  .  reveal  to  me  all 
the  mysteries  of  your  sect,  that  I  may  know 
why  you  choose  to  be  put  to  death  for  one 
Christ  I  know  not  whom,  rather  than  yield.' 
Same  Alexander  replied:  'What  you  ask  for 
IS  Holy,  and  we  are  not  permitted  by  Christ  to 
give  that  which  is  holy  unto  dogs.'  "     Here  we 
have  an  authoritative  declaration  by  the  head 
ot  the  Church,  the  successor  of  Peter,  that 
what  are  kno^n  as  the  mysteries  were  to  be 
ealously  guarded.     Rather  than  reveal  them 
l.e  himself  gave  up  his  life.     He  became  a 
martyr,  though  by  no  means  the  first,  to  the 
D.sc.plme  of  the  Secret.     And  it  is  especially 

Fathers  of  the  third  and  fourth  centuries,  as 
we  shall  presently  see,  finds  the  reason  Ld 

Mastr  ''""'  '°  '^'  P'^-^^P'  °f  ">« 

Tertullian  testifies  to  the  stringency  of  this 

law  of  secrecy  m  the  early  Church.     He  takes 

It  for  granted  that  a  Christian  woman  who 

*7 


Ji 


.\'iff-SV.  'A. 


j<'.  '.**<:- 


INTRODUCTION. 

should  marry  a  pagan  would  be  strictly  bound 
to  hide  the  mysteries  from  her  husband,  and 
uses  this  as  an  argument  against  mixed  mar- 
riages.    "  Will  not  your  husband  know  "  he 
asks  one  whom  he  supposes  to  have  wedded  a 
pagan,  «  what  you  taste  in  secret,  before  every 
other  food?     And  if  he  knows  of  the  bread, 
will  he  not  believe  it  to  be  what  it  is  said  to 
to  be  ?    '  I.  e.,  bread  dipped  in  the  blood  of  an 
mtant,  as  the  common  pagan  calumny  of  the 
day  represented  the  Eucharist  to  be. 

VII. 

^^^cni^"^  I      .'  """^  ^^^«  ^^"«"s  reasons  for 
••••:  *^"s  law  of  secrecy.     The  Chris- 
tians were  subject  to  persecution 
±rom  the   first,    as    our    Lord    expressly  fore- 
told they  should  be.     Common  prudence  would 
therefore  dictate  that  they  should  not  parade 
their  religion  in  the  open  view  of  those  who 
were  on   the   alert   to  seize   and   drag   them 
before  persecuting  tribunals.     Again,  the  mys- 
teries  of  faith  were  precisely  those  pearls  that 

'  ^d  U^orem,  1.  3  ;  c.  5  (Migne,  torn.  1,  col.  1S96). 

28 


INTRODUCTION. 

the  Master  bade  them  not  cast  before  swine. 
The   Fathers  give  yet    another   reason.     St. 
Basil  draws  attention  to  the  fact  thut   over- 
much familiarity  with  sacred  things  is  apt  to 
breed   contempt.     He  points  to  the  mystery 
which  surrounded  the  Holy  of  Holies  in  the 
Old  Law  as  enhancing  the  revp'-nce  and  awe 
with  which  the  Israelites  regarded  it.     <'This 
is  the  reason,"  he  says,  «  why  certain  teachings 
(which  he  has  just  spoken  of  as  having  been 
received  in  a  secret  manner  from  the  tradition 
of  the  Apostles),  have  been  handed  on  without 
writing."'     The   same   principle    is   strongly 
insisted  on  by  St.  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Ori- 
gen,   and    Eusebius.     The    first-named    cites 
Plato  as  counselling  his  disciples  not  to  commit 
the  deep  things  of  God  to  writing,  and  on  the 
words  of  St.  Paul  (1  Cor.  2 :  6,  7 ;  3 : 1,  2,  3  ) 
observes:  "By  milk  is  meant  the  catechism, 
the  first  nutriment  of  the  soul,  as  it  were."  ^ 
The  allusion  is  plain  to  the  ancient  discipline 
which  kept  the  Symbol  from  the  catechumens, 

»  De  Spir.  Sanct.  c.  27 ;  nn.  65,  66,  67  (Migue,  P.  G., 

2  Strom.  1,  5 ;  0.  8  (Migne,  i: .  G.,  torn.  9). 

29 


If 


INTRODUCTION. 


ti 


in 


while  yet  they  were 

gave  it  only  when,  after  careful  drilling  Ind 
a  lengthened  probation,  they  were  "able  to 
bear  "  the  "  meat "  or  stronger  food  reserved 
for  the  soul  in  the  mysteries  of  the   Faith. 
Eusebius  likewise  cites  the  words  of  Plato,  and 
adds:  «To  the  same  purpose  also  is  that  salu- 
tary precept  which  we  have,  '  Give  not  that 
which  is  holy  to  dogs '  (Matt.  7  : 6),  and  again, 
'  The,  animal  man  perceiveth  not  the  things  of 
the  Spirit  of  God'"  (1  Cor.  2: 14).'     "But 
after  those  whom  we  admonish  have  advanced 
m  virtue,"  are  the  words  of  Origen,  "... 
then  at  length  they  are  initiated  Tn  the  mysi 
teries.     For,  we  speak  wisdom  among  the  per- 
fect "  (1  Cor.  2  : 6.y     He,  too,  cites  Plato,  and 
adds:  "But  I  make  bold  to  affirm,    .  .  .  that 
the  disciples  of  Christ,  after  they  were  imbued 
with  the  grace  of  God,  knew  far  better  than 
Plato  what  things  were  to  be  written  and  how, 
and  what  was  to  be  made  known  to  the  people' 
without   writing;    what   things    were    to  be 


Prcpar.  Emng.  1,  13 ;  o.  7  (Migne,  P.  G..  torn.  21). 
«  Contra  Celsum,  1,  8 ;  c.  59  (Migne,  P.  G.,  torn.  11) 

30 


INTRODUCTION. 


I 


spoken,  and  what  to  be  kept  secret.'"     And 
^mee  more,  in  his  homily  on  Lev.  5,  n.  3  (Migne! 
torn.  12),  he  observes:  "I  know  that  there  are 
other  thmgs  that  the  children  of  Israel,  that  is, 
laics,  can  come  in  unto ;  not,  however,  stran- 
gers, unless  they  are  already  admitted  to  the 
Church   of  God;    ^For  the    Egyptian  in  the 
thud  generation  shall  enter  into  the  assembly 
of  the  Lord'  (Deut.  23:8).     I  take  it  that  the 
third  generation  is  said  in  a  mystic  sense,  be- 
cause of  the  faith  in  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Wiost  m  whom  every  one  who  is  joined  to  the 
Church  of  God  believes."     Here  is  a  distinc- 
tion drawn  between  those  that  are  without  and 
those  that  are  within,  and  again,  in  the  number 
ot    the    latter,    between   laymen   and   clerics. 
Ihose  that  are  without  have  no  part  in  the 
mysteries ;  "  of  those  that  are  within,  laics 
have  access  to  some,  not  to  all.     What  they 
have  access  to  are  the  mysteries  of  the  faith 
embodied  in  the  Symbol,  "  the  faitli  in  Father 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  in   whom  all   who  arj 
members    of    the   Church    believe."     Origen 


*  lb.  1,6;  c.  6. 


31 


INTRODUCTION. 


seems  to  discern  in  the  Egyptian  children  of 
the  third  generation  who  were  admitted  into 
the  synagogue,  a  mystic  and  subtle  aUusion  to 
the  three  classes  of  catechumens,  mcijnentes, 
proficientes,  competentes,  of  whom  only  the 
third  were  initiated  into  the  mysteries  and 
received  in  the  Symbjl  of  the  Faith,  the 
Watchword  of  the  Army  of  Christ. 


VIII. 


The  Precept 

OF  THE 

Master. 


Tertullian,  in  the  passage  from 
which  the  citation  is  given  above, 
traces  the  law  of  secrecy  to  i  .  > 
precept  of  the  Master  (Matt.  7 :  6\  which  l 
quotes  as  follows:   "Cast  not.  He  says,  your 
pearls  before  swine,    lest  haply  they  trample 
them  under  their  feet,  and  turn  and  rend  you." 
Christians  in  the  first,  second,  and  third  cen- 
turies, who  had  before  their  eyes  the  spectacle 
of  a  rampant  paganism,  savage  and  ferocious 
to  the  last  degree,  wallowing,  also,  in  the  mire 
of  every  abomination,  were  keenly  alive  to  the 
wisdom  of  this  divine  precept,  and  in  no  wise 
slow  to  act  upon  it.     On  every  side  were  these 

39 


'A 


INTRODUCTION. 

swine:  did  not  the  words  of  the  Master  find 
liere  then-  most  pointed  application  ?     Clement 
and  Ongen  and  Basil,  too,  as  the  reader  will 
have  observed,   discern  in  the  words   of   our 
Lord  and  m  the  Scriptures  both  of  the  Old 
Testament  and  the  New  the  origin  and  sanc- 
tion of  the  discipline  of  secrecy,  which  they 
all  ot  them  regard,  not  as  a  thing  of  recent 
growth,  but  as  a  something  that  existed  in  full 
vigor  from  the  very   beginning.     It  is  impor- 
tant to  note  this,  and  to  lay  due  stress  upon  it. 
1  he  root-reason  for  the  Discipline  of  the  Secret, 
the  r^ison  which  our  Lord  Himself  assigns, 
existed  mall  its  force  and  peremptoriness,  in 
the  first  century  as  in  the   fourth;  nay,  with 
tenfold   greater  force  and  peremptoriness   in 
the  first  century  than  in  the  fourth  ;  therefore 
the  Disciphne  of  the  Secret  existed  in  the  first 
century,  and  was  enforced  with  tenfold  greater 
rigor,    as    the   need   was  greater.     To    have 
decked  v^hristianity  in   its  pearls  while  yet  it 
lay  1.1  Its  cradle,  in  open   view  of  the  pao-an 
swine  that  ran  about  on  all  sides,  rampant  and 
furious-this  surely  had  been  a  fatuous  and 
suicidal  policy. 

33 


'1: 


INTRODUCTION. 


i 


If  some  of  the  earlier  writers,  such  as  Ire- 
naeus,  Theophilus  of  Antioch,  Justin,  Ignatius, 
and    Minucius    Felix,   make    no   mention   of 
the   law  of   secrecy,  or  only  hint  at    it,  this 
may  be  either  because  we  have  not  to-day  all 
their  writings,  in   some  cases,  but  mere  frag- 
ments,  or  rather,  perhaps,  because    they  are 
silent  of  set  purpose.     How  could  they  more 
effectually  hide  the  mysteries  than  to  act  as  if 
they  knew  not  of  the  concealment  ?     "  Minu- 
cius Felix  and  Arnobius,"  writes  Newman,  "  in 
controversy  with  Pagans,  imply  a  denial  that 
then  the  Christians  used  altars ;  yet  Tertullian 
speaks  expressly  of  the  Ara  Del  in  the  Church. 
What  can  we    say,  but    that   the   Apologists 
deny  altars  in  the  sense  in  which  they  [Pagans] 
ridicule  them  ;    or  that  they   deny  that  altars 
such  as  the  Pagan   altars  were   tolerated  by 
Christians?  ...     It    would  be    wrongr  indeed 
to  deny,  but  it  was  a  duty  to  withhold,  the 
ceremonial   of    Christianity  ;    and    Apologists 
might  be  sometimes  tempted  to  deny  absolutely 
what  at  furthest  could  only  be  denied  under 
conditions."'     Some  of  these  writers,  however, 

1  Development  of  Christian  Doctrine,  pp.  27,  28. 

34 


drop  an  allusion  here  anA  fi,  i> 
-  may  inf..  that  X  Lie  of'!  ^  "''"'' 
tave  been  k„„„„  t,  IJ^  »  IT  """'* 
speaks  of  "the  dea^o^s  rf  I  "  ^^"''"^ 
Jesus  Chriat"M7C/n  ^t  ":^'''"'''  »* 
to  be  cited  .ifn  W  t  r"jt"^''"'  """^^ 
Confession  in"the  Chri  t  o   God  "^""''"°  ^'^ 


IX. 

Our    greatest    witness    to  the  ■    » o 
ascipline   of   the   Secret    is   St'  I    cl^v" 
Clement  of  Alexandria.    Heflour-  ^■■■^T!'^- 
■sned  in  the  latter  nart  nf  tl.„  i 

and  had  « t™=.       S  "  "'"'"'"'  «enturjr, 

ana  had     tieasured  up  memoranda  ao-ai„stoid 

X'  hr/r''"^-'''"->f.  gleaned  frommen 
who  had  "preserved  the  true  tradition  of"he 
blessed  doctrine  directlv  frnm  V^t        j  , 

and  John  and  Paul  thf  h„I  f  ,"'"' "'"'""' 
receivd  it  ,•„'  -^  "^P"'*'*'' having 
fX"  ''  '"/•"=««^™"  the  son  from  thf 
Chri!t^  '       '  '"''''  "'"  ^^  "f  ^'ecy  to 

now  1  hold  ,t  a  matter  of  religion,  as  it  is  said 
not  to  oast  pearls  before  sle/lest  plrhan, 
they  trample  them  under  their  ieet  afd  tut 

35 


INTRODUCTION. 


n 


and  tear  us."  *  He  looks  forward,  however,  to 
a  time  when  it  will  be  no  longer  needful  thus 
to  guard  the  mysteries,  where  he  says  :  "  Now 
it  is  forbidden  to  give  that  which  is  holy  to 
dogs,  so  long,  that  is,  as  they  remain  savage."  ' 
"  These  books  [the  Stromata],"  he  writes,  ^ 
"  will  contain  the  truth  mixed  up  with  the 
doctrines  of  philosophy,  or  rather  concealed 
and  covered  by  them,  as  the  eatable  part  of 
a  nut  by  the  shell ;  for  the  seeds  of  the  truth 
ought  to  be  guarded  solely  for  the  husband- 
men of  the  faith."  And,  towards  the  close, 
he  congratulates  himself  on  having  written 
his  work  "  in  such  a  way  as  to  render  the 
discovery  of  the  hol}'^  traditions  no  easy  task 
for  any  of  the  uninitiated."  ^  That  the  Symbol 
came  within  the  Discipline  of  the  Secret  in 
Clement's  day  is  shown  below. ^  After  an  ex- 
haustive study  of  the  matter  in  Clement,  the 
editor  and  compiler  of  The  Faith  of  Catholics f 


1  Strom.  I.  1,  n.  12  (Migne,  P.  G.,  torn.  8). 

a  lb.  1.  2,  c.  2. 

« lb.  1.  1. 

♦lb.  1.  7,  Migne,  torn.  9). 

«  See  Chap.  I. 

36 


His  doctrine  but  to  a  few     2  Th.lT   ^ 

an  oral  teditiou,  descending  from  fa  h  J  f 
-.amongst  thetrue  gncticfc  be'evef  5 
fniedTr'^'r*'^^''"^°^*''-<'-«ni 

"nd"„t;i?::::r''-'«'^vthe  gnostic 

an^  th.    f  catechumen,  nor  unbeliever 

and  therefore  wrote  obscurely  on  purpose."  ■  ' 

^  Strom.  Vol.  II    n  no     ti  • 
take  not.  out  of  pr  ^t^'  It  has  o'e?.    '"'T^^'^  ''' ''  '  •»'- 
should  be  remoted  in  ano^lr  pd;.        "'  ^^''^-back,  which 
in  some  inatances,  of  sperffic  '  f        "'  ''"^  "^^'  ^«  *''«  ^^^k. 
passages  cited  froTC'^C^^^^^^^^ 
to  have  taken  it  for  eranted  fh!f  .u  translator  seems 

by  him  would  be  acclSe  to  1  T'"^'  '"'''''^  "««^ 
a  general  reference  to  he  tt,. 't/r'^^^!  «°^  «f^«".  after 
page.  ^^®  '®''*'  ^e^ers  the  reader  to  the 


]p: 


87 


INTRODUCTION. 


X. 


i   nave,   m   the   third    and   fourth 

centuries,  a    cloud  of   witnesses. 
They  represent  it  to  us,  not  as  a  custom  of  re- 
cent origin,  but  as  coming  down  from  Apos- 
tolic times,  and  closely  bound  up  with  the  very 
system   of    Christianity.     And  so,   indeed,   it 
was  closely  bound  up  with  Christianity  until,  to 
adopt  Clement's   expressive  phrase,    the  wild 
pagan   dog  had  been   tamed  and  thoroughly 
domesticated.     This  has  been  already  pointed 
out,  but  will  bear  pointing  out  once  more,  and 
emphasizing.     "Celsus  frequently    calls    our 
doctrine  hidden,"    says    Origen,   who    reverts 
again  and  again  to  tliis  subject,  "  though  the 
gospel  of  the  Christians  is,  almost  throughout 
the  whole  world,  better  known  than  the  opin- 
ions of  the  philosophers.  .  .  .     But  that  there 
should  be,  besides  the  exoteric  doctrines,  some 
things  which  are  not  manifested  to  the  crowd, 
is  not  peculiar  to  the  doctrine  of  Christians 
only,  but  is  common  to  that  of  the  philoso- 
phers as  well,  amongst  whom  some  discourses 

38 


*teJ4 


INTRODUCTION. 

were  exoteric,  and  some  also  esoteric."  ■  And 
St.  H,ppoIyt„s,  tl.e  disciple  of  Iren^us,  after 
citing  the  words  of  Paul  to  Timothy  ab.ut 
ffaard,„.  the  deposit  and  commending  it  to 
faithful  men  who  should  be  fit  to  teach  others 

also(lT™.  6:20;2Tim.  2:2),«Ifthe„ 
he  blessed  Apostle  delivered  with  c  rcumspe  " 

ment  to  all,  seemg  m  spirit  that  all  men  have 

notfa,th(2Thess.3:2),howm„ch   "eatl 
danger  shall  we  run  if,  without  canti^  Id 
ndiscnmmately  we  commit  the  oracles  of  God 
to  profane  and  unworthy  men."  ■     So  again,  a 
ttle  later  ,n  the  same  ceutnry,  St.  c/pria;: 
And  we  are  also  ordered  to  keep  what  i.  holv 
w.hmo..  own  knowledge,  and  not  expose    t 
to  be  trodden  „u  by  swine  and  dogs,"  3  ,„] 
s^aightway  cites  the  oft-cited  precept  of  the 
Master  (Matt.  7       And,  to  quote  one  more 

!i„s     m"''  '  """'"'""^  •"  '"^  "-k 

agamst   Manes,    says:    "These  mysteries  the 

■  Contr.  Cek.  n.  7  (Mlg„e,  P.  a,  t„„.  „  , 

'Denmm.  de  Ohristo  et  Antichr-  in,ll,li  *       . 
B  fift  rtrf  n       .  •  ^i"ni^rtr.  (tialland.  torn  2  n  1\ 

iio.  ad  Demelnauum,  n.  I  (Mirrn»  p  r     .         .      '' 
544).  ti«"giie,  i*.  L.,  torn.  4,  col. 

39 


INTRODUCTION. 


!  i! 


Church  now  unfolds  to  thee,  who  art  passed 
from  the  class  of  catechumens ;  to  Gentiles  it  is 
not  the  custom  ro  manifest  them.  For  to  no  one 
amongst  the  Gentiles  do  we  make  known  the 
mysteries  concerning  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost ;  neither  do  we  speak  openly  before  the 
catechumens  concerning  the  mysteries,  but  we 
often  say  many  things  in  au  occult  manner,  in 
order  that  the  faithful,  who  are  acquainted  with 
the  matter,  may  understand,  whilst  those  who 
are  not  thus  acquainted  may  not  be  injured."  ' 
St.  Augustine  also,  in  the  fifth  century,  speaks 
of  the  Discipline  of  the  Secret  as  a  "  custom." 
It  appears  to  have  been,  in  his  day,  of  imme- 
morial standing;  it  was  founded  u""'  Apos- 
tolic tradition;  and  it  had,  as  have  luaeed  all 
old  customs  that  are  reasonable  and  right,  from 
this  very  fact  itself,  the  force  of  law. 

^^  Disp.  cum  Manete  (Galland,  torn.  3,  p.  610).  I  have 
not  been  able  to  trace  this  reference  in  Migne,  and  so  give 
it  and  one  or  i  wo  others  as  found  in  Tlie  Faith  of  Catholics. 
I  must  add  that  some  authorities  attribute  these  words  to 
St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem. 


40 


I 


INTRODUCTION. 


XI. 


Further 
Testimony. 


It  is  not  necessary  to  cite  the 
testimony  of  fourth  century  writ- 
ers,  so   notorious  is  it  that   the 
law  of  secrecy  was  still  in  full  force  then.     A 
few  citations  may  be  given,  however,  by  way 
of  specimen,  or  as  having  some  direct  bearing 
on  the  subject  of  this  work.     Speaking  of  St. 
Cyprian's  writings,  Lactantius  says  :  «  Beyond 
the  mere  word,  he  cannot  please  those  who  are 
ignorant  of  the  mystery,  inasmuch  as  the  things 
he  has  written  are  mystical,  and  purposely  de- 
signed to  be  understood  by  the     ithful  only."  ' 
Athanasius  cites  the  Lord's  precept  (Matt.  7), 
and  adds  :  "  For  the  mysteries  ought  not  to  be 
publicly  exhibited  to  the  uninitiated,  lest  the 
Gentiles,  who  understand  them  not,  scoff,  and 
the  catechumens,  becoming  curious,  be  scan- 
dalized." ="      At  this  time  the  heathen  swine 
could   but  "scoff"  and,  perhaps,  show  their 
fangs;    they  could  no  longer  "rend."     The 
need   for   reserve   was   slowly    passing   away. 

1  Divin.  Instit.  1,  5  ;  c.  1  (Migne,  P.  L.,  torn.  6). 
"  Apol.  contra  Arian.  n.  11  (Migne,  P.  G.,  torn.  25). 

41 


i^i 


INTRODUCTION. 


"  You  are  summoned  to  the  mysteries,"  says 
St.  Ambrose,  "  though  you  know  not  what  they 
are.  You  learn  when  you  come." '  And  St. 
Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  addressing  the  grade  of 
catechumens  known  as  competentes  :  "  But 
thou  art  now  standing  on  the  borders ;  see 
thou  tell  nothing ;  not  that  the  things  spoken 
of  are  not  worthy  of  being  told,  but  that  the 
ear  is  not  worthy  to  receive.  Thou  also  wast 
once  a  catechumen  [of  the  first  grade,  incipi- 
entes,  or  the  second,  proficientes] ;  I  did  not 
tell  what  was  before  thee."  ' 

XII. 

In  THE  Heart.       In   the   writings   of   the   New 
Testament.  ^   Testament,  or,  to  be  more  specific, 

•  in    the   Pastoral   Epistles,    there 

are  numberless  references  to  what  is  variously 
and  vaguely  described  as  an  "  outline  of  teach- 
ing "  (Rom.  6  :  17),  "  this  teaching  "  (2  Jo. : 
11),  < confession"  (Heb.  4:  12),  "pattern  of 
sound  words  "  (2  Tim.  1 :  13),  "  deposit  "  (1 

i  Dc  Elia  et  Jejun,  c.  10,  n.  36  (Migne,  P.  L.,  torn.  14). 
a  Procatech.  n.  13  (Migne,  P.  G.,  torn.  23). 

42 


Vd  M  i^.yfss.n^ipc.usK', 


"tluflw; 


INTRODUCTION. 

Tim.  6 :  20).'     We  are  not  now  concerned  to 

ployed  by  the  early  Fathers;   but  Tertullia      exXX 

num.  but  the.  pubhc  teaching  of  the  Church."  Thus  Dom 
C^pnetm  The  DubUn  Review  for  Oct.  1888.  p.  2  9  The 
reference  he  g.ve.  is  De  Pruesc.  25.  TertulH  J  ij  tlfere 
combutang  the  vie.^.  of  certain  heretics  of  hfs  day  who 
maintazned  (.o/e.^  dicere)  that  so.ne  things  theT^^we  e 
knew  *^/r;"''^  *''^'"r«'^-  ^^^  -tJ^no..  or.ifZy 
Pm  I;  c  oo  -'"»— -t«  to  all  their  disciples  (Je 
,       ,     '  .^"      ^^-    ^**^   ^'■®^*^   Afri.ran  sledge-hammer  of 

eretjcs  (for  such  he  was  and  still  is,  though  he^e"ms  to 

now  absuid  it  is  to  suppose  that  the  Aoostleq  to  wi,«r„ 

was  gi..n  the  Spirit  of  truth,  could  havtCtnorrnt  o" 

anytr^t,,  ,,,,,,^,^  ^.^^^^^^^^^  ^^^  cc.  23.I4)     Nex 

c.  2.)   he  shows  that  the  Apostles  did  not  wi  hhoid  any 

me  neietics.    This  is  what  he  means,  though  he  does  not 
say  It  in  so  many  words  ;  for  tliose  heretics  alleged  thaU 
was  precisely  their  distinctive  tenets  which  wefe  so  t'h 

"0.  an^JS^\:^^rre"4t:r  ^""T' '  ^^- 

out  that  the     deposit  "  m  question  could  not  have  con- 

these  many  svitnesses  the  Church  is  meant    it  .vl       I 

Drought  forth  before  many  witnesses  "  (lb.).     Teitullian 
does  not  deny  the  existence  of  the  law  of  ^cre^y  i^    ho 

43 


'"->  Htf**'., 


INTRODUCTION. 

ascertain  what  this  teaching  was.  Enough  for 
the  present  to  know  that  it  was  some  part  of 
the  Christian  Revelation ;  that  it  had  been 
already  formulated,  that  is  to  say,  couched  in 
a  definite  form  of  words,  else  it  could  not  be 
spoken  of  as  an  "  outline  of  teaching "  and 
"  pattern  of  sound  words  "  ;  and  that  it  was  to 
be  "  guarded  "  and  committed  only  to  "  faith- 
ful men  "  who  should  be  "  fit  to  teach  others 
also"  (2  Tim.  2  :  2).  Search  the  New  Testa- 
ment from  beginning  to  end,  and  you  will  not 
find  this  doctrinal  formulary.  You  will  find 
allusions  to  it  in  plenty,  fragments  of  it,  a  few 
phrases  or  sentences  picked  from  it,  perhaps, 


Church,  to  which,  as  we  have  seen,  he  bears  witness  him- 
self. The  very  words  he  employs  to  denote  the  Creed, 
"  sacramentum,"  "tessera,"  "symbolura,"  would  prove 
this,  even  were  there  no  other  proof.  What  he  says  is 
that  of  the  whole  doctrine  of  Christ  none  was  kept  back 
from  the  beginning,  but  all  was  taught  opeuly  coram  Ec- 
cleaia,  that  is,  to  the  faithful.  He  does  not  say  nor  dream 
of 'saying  that  it  was  all  taught  openly  before  the  catechu- 
men and  the  heathen.  So,  too,  Origen  says  that  the 
"  Kerygma  of  the  Church"  was  taught  "  manifestissime," 
(as  Ruflnus  renders  it)  "  most  plainly,"  rather  tlian  "  most 
openly."  But  plainly  or  openly,  it  was  "  to  the  faithful " 
it  was  delivered,  not  to  the  cateohumen,  and  much  less  to 
the  unbeliever. 


INTRODUCTION. 

but  the  formulary  itself-nowhere.    Can  clearer 
e"de„ce  be  asked  for  of  the  existence,    rom 

called  the  Disciphne  of  the  Secret  ?    For  here 
mheve-yheartoftheNewTestame:-: 

man  to  pluck  from  it.     There  is  i„st  one  kev 
and  one  only,  that  can  unlock  this  TystS' 

-Mian.  Brsirorherr/.^^^^^^^^ 

iTw  iV,?""""  ""^  "^"^  i'-lf  historical 
^em  wishf,.  to  wrest  the  key  from  the  hands 
of  then:  Mother,  and  fling  it  away. 

XIII. 

Vast  is  the  ground  that  has  to   ;  "Lead.Kcd. 
oe  gone  over   by  the  one  who  ■■    "Lioht," 

would  trace  the  Symbol  to  its  '' 

source.     The  way  is  long  and  devious.     It  lies 
for  the  most  part,  in  a  wilderncs.,,  and  winds  at 
taes  through  tangled  forest  shrouded  in  gl!  ^ 
P.ek  your  steps  never  so  carefully,  yof,  stU 
«e  hable  to  stumble  and  to  fall.''  E„Lw 

46  ^ 


INTRODUCTION. 

upon  this  difficult  way,  where  the  light  of 
nature  so  often  fails  one  and  the  footing  is  so 
insecure,  I  look  to  Faith  for  guidance,  and  to 
Cathohc  Tradition  to  lend  me  a  helping  and 
sustaining  hand.  And  all  my  steps  I  give  into 
the  keeping  of  Mother  Church,  the  guardian 
of  the  Symbol,  the  organ  of  Apostolic  Tra- 
dition, the  teacher  of  the  true  Faith,  unre- 
servedly submitting  to  her  unerring  judgment 
and  censure  whatever  is  written  in  these  pages. 


46 


CHAPTER  I. 


The  Tra- 
dition. 


APOSTOLIC  AUTHORSHIP  OP  THE  SYMBOL. 

I. 

Ancient  tradition  ascribes  the 
authorship  of  the  primitive  Creed 
of  the  Church  to  the  Apostles.  Ever 
since  the  fifteenth  century  this  tradition  has 
been    a  target  for    criticism    at    the   hands 
mainly  of  men  not  of  the  household  of  the 
faith.     To^ay  it  is  freely  called  in  question 
even  by  Catholic  scholars,  among  whom  may 
be  mentioned  the  Benedictine  Baumer  in  Ger 
many,  the  Benedictine  Dom  Morin  in  France 
and  the  Barnabite  Giovanni  Semeria  in  Italy! 
The   last-named,  in   a   work  fresh  from   the 
hands  of  the  printer,'   regards   the  received 

^Dogrm    Gerarchia    e   Cdto  neUa   Chiesa  primitiva 
Roma  :  P.  Pustet.    1903.  l^rimiitva. 

47 


I 


I 


THE  SYMBOL 

account  of  the  origin  of  the  Creed  as  legend- 
ary. He  sets  the  old  tradition  aside,  as 
not  of  a  nature  to  win  our  belief  on  the  score 
either  of  its  antiquity  or  its  universality,  and 
follows  Harnack  in  fixing  upon  the  middle  of 
the  second  century  as  the  probable  date  on 
which  our  most  ancient  Symbol  of  Faith  was 
formulated. 

I  propose,  first,  to  review  briefly  the  explicit 
testimony  that  we  have  as  to  the  Apostolic 
authorship  of  the  Creed;  next,  to  point  out 
how  the  Discipline  of  the  Secret  was  rigidly 
enforced  and  religiously  observed  in  regard  to 
it ;  and,  lastly,  to  consider  the  bearing  of  this 
fact  on  the  question  of  its  authorship. 


II. 


Witnesses 

TO  THE 

Tradition. 


Between  the  latter  half  of  the 
fourth  century  and  the  middle  of 
the  fifth,  several  writers  of  excep- 
tional standing,  in  respect  of  their  learn- 
ing and  their  critical  acumen,  explicitly  and 
categorically  affirm  the  Creed  to  be  of  Apos- 
tolic origin.  Chief  among  these  are  St.  Am- 
brose,    St.    Jerome,  the   Presbyter    Rufinus, 

48 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

2^r '■  h?  "**  ^""'^-    "^^  kst-named  calls 
th    Creed  the  "Catholic  and  Apostolic  Sym- 
bol,       speaks   of  .t   as  the  Rule    of  Faith 
which  has  come  down  to  us  with   the  au- 
thority of  apostolic   institution,"  3  and   puts 
those  who  "  contradict  the  Svmbol  instituted  by 
the  ho  y  Apostles  "  in  the  same  category  with 
men  who  deny  the  doctrine  of  the  Incarnation.* 
The  testimony  of  St.  Ambrose  is  contained  in 
these  words:  "Let  the  Symbol  of  the  Apostles 
be  bel  eved,  wluch  the  Roman  Church  ever  has 
m  Its  keepmg  and  preserves  inviolate."'    St 
Jerome  bears  witness  that  "  the  Symbol  of  our 
Faith  and  Hope,  which  has  been  handed  down 
to  us  from  the  Apostles,  is  not  written  with 

"fth:':!?.'*"^"'™''""*''^"-^*^"^'^*' 

2Serm.24,c.6(Migne,tom.54). 
'  Serm.  62,  c.  2. 

*  Serm.  06,  c.  1. 

'AdSiricium  (Migne,  torn.  23 :  ep.  42  •  co!   Iior,^ 

(Migne.  torn.  23.  col.  380).  ^*"'''*^'-  °-  ^• 

4  49 


THE  SYMBOL 


m. 


Testimony 
op  rufinus. 


i 


The  testimony  of  Rufinus,  who 
writes  towards  the  close  of  the 
fourth  century  or  the  opening  of 
the  fifth,  is,  though  no  whit  clearer  or  more 
categorical,  fuller  and  much  more  specific. 
The  others  make  but  a  passing  allusion  to 
the  Symbol;  Rufinus  has  a  whole  treatise 
upon  iV  At  the  outset  of  his  commentary 
(for  such  it  is)  on  the  Creed,  he  deals  with  its 
origin.  "  The  subject  of  his  exposition,"  notes 
Zahn,^  "  is  the  baptismal  Creed  of  the  Church 
of  Aquileia,  in  which  in  370  he  received 
Baptism,  and  at  the  same  time  the  Creed.  But 
he  does  not  discuss  it  without  casting  side- 
glances  on  the  baptismal  confessions  of  other 
Churches.  He  had  not  lacked  opportunities 
for  becoming  acquainted  with  them,"  continues 
the  author,  attesting  the  competency  of  Rufinus. 
"  He  had  passed  six  years  in  Alexandria  and 
very  nearly  twenty  in  Jerusalem  and  the  neigh- 
borhood. He  had  also  made  a  long  stay  in 
Rome  before  settling  in  Aquileia  for  the  rest 

'  Comment,  in  Symbol.  Apost.  (Migne,  torn.  21.). 
•  Tlie  Articles  of  the  Apostles'  Creed,  pp.  18,  19. 

60 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

of  his  life.  He  had  also  read  some  sermons  on 
the  Creed  by  famous  preachers  of  foreign 
Churches."  ^ 

Rufinus  tells  us  how  the  faithful  in  his  day 
held  it  as  a  tradition,  handed  down  from  their 
forefathers  in  the  faith,  that  the  Apostles,  after 
the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  upon  them,  and 
before   they  dispersed   to   preach   the  Gospel 
throughout  the  world,  being  gathered  together 
composed  the  Symbol  to  serve  as  the  norm  of 
their  teaching  in   the  after  time;   how  they 
collaborated  in  drawing  up  this  brief  outline 
{indicium)  or  index  of  the  truths  they  were 
about  to  preach,  and  agreed  to  deliver  it  to  be- 
lievers as   their  rule    or   standard;  also,  how 
they  gave  it  the  name  of  Symbol,  a  name,  ob- 
serves  our  author,  which  signifies  at  once  a 
putting  together  or "  collaborating  and  a  dis- 
tinctive mark  or  badge,  whereby  the  preachers 
of  the  true  faith,  as  well  as  true  believers,  may 
be   known.     He  adds  the  significant  words  : 
"  Therefore  they  delivered  these  [truths  em- 
bodied  in  the  Symbol],  not  to  be  written  on 
paper  or  parchment,  but  to  be  retained  in  the 
hearts  of  beUevers,  so  that  it  might  be  certain 

61 


THE  SYMBOL 


that  nobody  had  learned  them  from  writings 
which  are  known  at  times  to  fall  into  the  hands 
of  unbelievers,  but  from  the  tradition  of  the 
Apostles." 

According   to   Rufinus    the   Apostles    not 
only  composed  the  Creed  but  gave  it  the  name 
of  Symbol,  which  it  still  bears.     Harnack  has 
not   been   able  to  discover   any  trace  of  the 
term  symbol  as  a  designation  of  the  Creed  in 
the  writings  of  the  first    two  centuries.      It 
would  seem   to  have  been  for  the  first  time 
employed  in  this  sense  by  St.  Cyprian.^     But 
this  should  not  be  held  to  weaken  the  force  of 
the  testimony  of  Rufinus  to  the  fact,  or  rather 
the   tradition,    of   the    Apostolic   authorship, 
which   is,  after  all,  the   only   matter   of   im- 
portance.    The  learned  presbyter  of  Aquileia 
cannot  be  supposed  to  mean  that  the  Apostles 
used  the  very  word  Symbolum  itself  (from  the 
Greek  <ro!,Mo>\  but  rather  the  equivalent  for 
that  word  in  their  own  language;  the  more 
so  that,  as  he  expressly  tells  us,  they  did  not 
deliver  the  Creed  in  writing,  but  by  word  of 
mouth.     In  any  case,  it  is  far  from  clear  that 


'  See,  however,  below. 


Chap,  vi ;  sect.  3. 
53 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

he  is  citing  the  circumstance  of  the  name  as 
part  of  the  old  tradition.     Nor  is  there  any- 
thmg  m  the  text  or  context  of  the  passage  to 
warrant  Father  Semeria  in  imputing  to  Rufinus 
the  statement  that  the  Creed  was  composed  by 
the  Apostles  on  the  very  day  of  Pentecost.' 
Un  the  contrary,  his  Discessuri  igitur  implies 
It  to  have  been  the  mind  of  Rufinus  that  the 
Creed  was  not  drawn  up  by  the  Apostles  till 
the  eve  of  their  dispersion. 

In  the  beginning  of  his  exposition  of  the 
bymbol,  Rufinus  notes  the  fact  that  the  text  is 
not   exactly   the   same  in   all   the    Churches. 
Thus  the  Eastern  Churches  profess  belief  in 
"One  God  the  Father   Almighty."     In   the 
Creed  of  the  Roman  Church,  as  in   that  of 
Aquileia,  the  word  « one  "  is  wanting.     Nor 
does  the  Old  Roman  Creed  contain  the  addition, 
"maker   of  heaven   and   earth,"  found,  with 
variations,   in    the    Creeds    of    the    Eastern 
Churches.     Again,  the  words  "  He  descended 
into  hell,"  found  in  the  Creed  of  Aquileia,  are 
wanting  m  the  Roman  as  well  as  in  the  Eastern 
Creed.     Rufinus,  however,  observes  that   the 

»  Op.  cit,  p.  321. 

63 


«li 


THE  SYMBOL 

truth  expressed  in  these  words  is  impKed  in 
the  words  "  was  buried,"  that  precede ;  for  as 
the  body  went  down  into  the  grave  so  the  soul 
went  down  into  the  place  where  the  souls  of 
the  faituful  departed  awaited  the  coming  of 
the   Redeemer.     Belief    in   **the  communion 
of  Saints  "  is  not  expressed  in  any  of  the  earlier 
forms,  even  in  that  which  St.  Augustine  ex- 
pounds in   his  homilies.'°     But   this,   too,  is 
implied  in   the  preceding  article,   "the  holy 
Chinch."     Finally,  the  words,  "life  everlast- 
ing," with  which  the  Creed  now  closes,  though 
found  in  some  at  least  of  the  Eastern  formu- 
laries, are  only  imp!  .  .1  in  the  words,  "resur- 
rection of  the   flesl'-     which  invariably   form 
the  conclusion  of   tne  Western  Creed  up   to 
and  including  the  time  of  St.  Augustine. 

The  foregoing,  with  some  other  flight  dif- 
ferences in  the  wording,  constitute  the  vari- 
ations in  the  formula  of  the  Apostolic  Faith 
which  served  as  the  Baptismal  Creed  in  the 
Church  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries. 
Variations,  as  they  are,  apparent  rather  than 

w  In  traditione  Symboli,  Serm.  213,  213,  214    (Miene 
torn.  38).  ' 

54 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

i^V^'/^u^^"'  '""'•'  'he  underlying 
Ideas  they  do  but  witness  to  the  uaity  of  the 
pnuufve  and  archetypal  fo™  of  the  Chr  st^ 
Coufess.On  of  Faith.  But  where,  if  anywh  ^ 
was  th«  archetypal  form  preserv  d  ?    E^ 

1  /!  "'f "  "'*'™-^  ^^'^^''^^^  "  words  wZ 

»ffi  He  agrees   with  St.    Ambrose  in 

affirming    hat  the  Roman  Church  ever  kept 
the  Symbol  of  the  Apostles  inviolate.     "S 

fact  tha  no  heresy  ever  had  its  origi'ther  " 
For  add.t.o„s  were  made  elsewhere,  as  he  pro- 
ceeds to  pomt  out-not  indeed  frL  with'; 
but  from  w,th,n,  not  by  way  of  putting  f„^ 
ward  a  new  truth,  but  by  way  of  bringin!  i„t" 
clearer  hght  the  old-to  meet  th!  fisil 
heresies."  "s>mg 

sel"  V  Jt:?;?.rira'  ^'f  ^  ^^^-^-^  in"  the 
the  Apostles  pubH^eTtr:  ""'^  °"  ''^^  ^^^'^^^^  ^^ 
Creeds  of  the  Crt h  !l  T  I  ^^"'  ^'^""^  ^"  ^^^^^^ 
Roman  CreerZu^h  he  Z  "'^^  ^'"'"^^^^^P^  '"  the  Old 
thesis.  See  the  CW/  ^  T  f**  ''"'^  ^  ^  ^'''•^^'"^  hypo- 
PP.  216-231'''* "^"""'^'-'^^'^^"'fo-Octobe;,  l4 


m 


55 


THE  SYMBOL 


IV. 


TioN  ^nT\        -^^  ^^^^  ^^^^®  °*  *^®  fourth  cen- 
theLegenv.     tury,  therefore,  and  the  beginning 
of  the   fifth,  the  Creed  delivered 
to  the  class  of  catechumens  known   as   com- 
petentes  was  the  self-same,  in   substance  and 
meaning,    throughout    the    whole     Christian 
world.     And  of   this  Creed  Rufinus  and  Je- 
rome and  Ambrose  and  Leo  the  Great  declare 
the  Apostles  to  have  been  the  authors,  or  at 
any  rate  declare  this  to  have  been  the  received 
tradition  in  their   day.     Whatever    is   to    be 
thought  of  this  tradition,  one  thing  is  clear, 
and  ought  to  be  kept  clearly  in  view  bv  anyone 
Avho  really  wishes  to  reach  the  truth  in  this 
matter :  the  tradition  in  question  stands  upon 
an  altoj^ether  different  footing,  and  should  be 
kept  quite  separate  from  the  legend  which,  in 
the  after  time,  grew  out  of  it,  or  rather  was 
woven  around  it,  to  the  effect  that  each  of  the 
Apostles  contributed  a  distinct  article  to  the 
Creed,  Peter  contributing  the  first  and  Mathias 
the  twelfth  and  last.     This   incongruous  ap- 
pendage to  the  old  tradition  is  first  met  with 

5C 


it:}  •■-' 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

in  a  sermon  long  believed  to  Hve  been  written 
by  St.  Aug  istine,  but  now  known  to  be  the 
work  of  some  anonymous  scribe  at  a  later  date 
Its  legendary  character  is  sufficiently  attested 
by  Its  spurious  origin.     It  is  true  that  St.  Leo 
the  Great,  in   his  epistle  to  Pulcheria  (ep.  31, 
4),  speaks  of  the  Symbol  as  being  duodeclm 
apostolorum  totidem   sUjnata  sententiis,  but 
this  should  not  be  taken  to  mean  more  than  it 
says,  to  wit,  that  the  Creed  is  stamped  with  the 
seal  of  Apostolic  authorship  by  the  fact  of  its 
containing  as  many  articles  as  there  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Apostolic  College  from  the  begin- 
iimg.     As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  words  vitam 
aeternam  which  constitute  the  article  ascribed 
to  Mathias  by  the  author  of  the  sermon  above 
referred  to,  were  not  part  of  the  Creed  known 
to   St.  Augustine,  aor  of  the  Old  Roman  or 
Apostles'  Creed. 

The  legend  has  been  relegated,  and  with 
reason,  to  the  Hmbo  of  vain  things  fondly 
invented.  But  what  of  the  tradition  ?  Must 
It,  too,  go  the  same  way?  That  it  must 
appears  to  be  the  verdiot  of  what  many  look 
upon  to-day  as  the  court  of  last  resort  in  all 

57 


*;&.; 


THE  SYMBOL 


questions  of  this  kind— the  school  of  historical 
criticism.     Before  accepting  the  verdict  as  final, 
it  will  be  well  to  inquire  whether  the  method 
by  which  it  has  been  reached  is  such  as  would 
be  likely,  in  this  instance,  to  lead  those  who 
employ  it  into  the  truth.     We  have  to  con- 
sider whether  the  Symbol  of  Faith  known  as 
the  Apostles'  Creed  came  withiii  the  Discipline 
of   the  Secret,  and  whether,  if  it  did  come 
within  the  Discipline  of  the  Secret,  this  does 
not  log'cally  bar  all  movement  looking  to  the 
discovery   of   its  authorship  along  the  path 
trodden  by  historical  criticism. 


V. 


The  Sym- 
bol AND 
THE  Disci- 
pline OF 
THE  Secret 


The  reader  will  have  gathered 
from  what  has  been  said  in  the  In- 
troduction why  the  Discipline  of 
the  Secret  was  inaugurated  in  the 
nascent  Church,  and  how  strictly  it  was  en- 
forced. It  was  only  after  persecution  ceased 
and  the  old  pagan  Empire  of  the  Romans  was 
converted  and  baptized  in  the  person  of  Con- 
stantine,  that  the  DisclpJina  Arcani  was  grad- 
ually relaxed.     That  it  extended  to  the  Sym- 

68 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

bol,  and  held  it  fast  even  in  the  days  of  St 
Augustine,  is  a  fact  that  can  be  established  on 
unimpeachable  testimony.     We  have,  first  of 
all,  the  witness  of  Augustine  himself.     Over 
and   over   again    he   repeats  in   his    homilies 
that  the  Symbol  is  not  given  in  writing.     "  No- 
body," he  says,  «  writes  the  Symbol  that  it  may 
be  read.    "     When  delivering  it  to  the  cate- 
chumens a  week  or  two  before  their  baptism, 
he  warns  them  :  "In  no  wise  are  you  to  write 
down  the  words  of  the  Symbol  in  order  to  com- 
m,t  them  to  memory.     You  are  to  learn  them 
by  ear  (audiendo) ;  and  even  after  you  have 
learned  them,  you  are  not  to  write  them,  but 
to  retain  them  in  memory  and  rehearse  them." 
He  goes  on  to  say  that  everything  which  they 

"/)«  5ym6.  ad  Catech.  (Migne.  torn.  40.  col  (i'^r  ) 
M,gnedec.de8  in  favor  of  the  genuineness  of  tl^homiy 
on  .ntnns.c  grounds.  But  in  l»omiIies  on  the  Creed  Xh 
are  unquest.onablj  St.  Augustine's,  the  "  resurrection  o 

hind   H        "."•'  '''''  ''^''''''  ^"  *'"•«  o"«.-  the  otJr 
hand,  the  words  •'  in  vitam  aeternam  "  are  cit.d  as  part  of 

his  DeFtde  et  Symholo,  nor  in  his  EncMndion  de  fide  etc 
does  St.  Augustine  cite  as  part  of  the  Symbol  the  wonis  in 
queation.    See  on  this  subject.  Chap.  IV..  Sects.  8  and  8 

69 


it 


THE  SYMBOL 


are  about  to  hear  m  the  Symbol  is  contained 
in  Scnpture,  but  that,  as  gathered  together  and 
reduced  to  a  certain  formula,  it  is  not  Uwful 
to  write  It  («o«  licet  soribi).     This  he  con- 
ceives to  have   been   foreshadowed  in   those 
words  of  the  Old  Testament:  "This  is  the 
covenant  that  I  shall  make  with  them  after 
those  days,  said  the  Lord;  I  will  give  my  law 
in  their  bowels,  and  in  their  hearts  will  I  write 
■t.       '  In  token  of  this,"  he  adds,  "the  Sym- 
bol  IS  learned  by  ear ;  nor  is  it  written  on  tab- 
lets,  or  any  kind   of  material,   but    in   the 
heart.    •'    In  another  homily,"  when  he  comes 
to  the  pomt  where  the  delivery  (traditio)  of 
the  Symbol  took  place,  he  says:  "These  are 
the  words  that  you  are  faithfully  to  learn  by 
heart  and  recite  from  memory,"  that  is,  on  the 
day  set  for  their  baptism.     The  Saint  adds, 
within  brackets,  the  following  words,  which  he 
set  down  when  he  first  put  the  sermon  in  writ- 
ing:    (After  this  preface  tlie  whole  Symbol  is 
to  be  given  out,  no  word  of  comment  being 
interspersed  therewith  :   /  belieoe  in  God  the 

»Serm.  213  (Migne,  torn,  38  ;  col.  lOtO). 
»  Serm.au  (lb.,  col.  1060). 

60 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

put  the  Symbol  ,„  writing,  which  being  s^id, 
the  foUcvmg  discourse  is  to  be  added)."    St 
Augustine  thus  scrupled  to  write  the  words  of 
the  Creed  even  ,n  the  manuscript  of  his  own 
sermons.    AH  this  taUies  with 'the  testLoi; 

of  fLI  °r  ^^Tf^  1"°'""^'  "•""''«  Symbol 
of  Fa,  h,  "handed  down  from  the  Apostles  is 
not  wr.  ten  „,h  ,,^  „„  ^^_^  J  J^,^ 

truths  contamed  m  the  Creed  formukted  by 
thos  whom  Chr«t  first  sent  to  teach  and  bap^ 
to  aU  nations  were  not  delivered  to  men  to 
be  wntten  on  paper  or  parchment,  but  to  be 

might  be  known  for  certain  that  "  no  one  had 

rr:^  r/""^  ^^''  "'■''='' »' «—  fall 

nto  the  hands  of  unbelievers,  but  from  tlie 
tradition  of  the  Apostles." 

Other  witnesses,  in  the  West,  to  the  law  of 
^crecy  which  guarded  the  Symbol,  are  St. 
l-eter  Chrysologus  and  the  author  of  the  £x. 
planaHo  SymboH.    The  former  in  ahnost  aU 

61 


THE  SYMBOL 


III 


his  sermons  on  the  Symbol,  cautions  his  hearers 
not  to  put  the  Creed  in  writing,  lest  it  should 
fall  into  the  hands  of  the  unbehever.     Enough 
to   cite  from    one.     "The    Faith,"  he    says, 
"  which  we  believe  and  teach,  not  with  the  pen' 
but  with  the  living  voice,  let  us  consign  to  the' 
secret  closet  of  the  heart,  not  to  paper.     Let  it 
be  committed  to  memory,  not  to  writing,  lest  the 
divine  gift  be  profaned  by  contact  with  earthly 
things ;  lest  the  uninitiated  beholder  seize  upon 
the  heavenly  secret,  and  what  is  life  to  the  be- 
liever prove  to  the  unbeliever  a  source  of  spirit- 
ual ruin."  -5     The  author  of  the   Explanatlo, 
reputed  to  be  St.  Ambrose,  tells  us  that  tradition 
forbade  the  writing  of  the  Symbol,  and  main- 
tains that  the  living  memory  will  conserve  it 
better  than  the  written  page.  The  passage  runs : 
"I  wish  you  to  bear  in  mind,  since  you  have  to 
recite  the  Symbol,  that  you  must  not  write  it. 
Let  no  one  write  it.  Why  ?  Because  such  is  the 
tradition.     What,  then,  is  to  be  done?     It  is 
to  be  held  fast.     But  how  can  it  be  held  fast, 
you  will  say  to  me,  if  it  is  not  written.     Rather 
can  it  be  held  fast  if  it  be  not  written.     How 

»  Serm.  60.  (Migne,  torn.  52). 

62 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


*f  .. 


do  you  mean  ?     Let  me  explain.     What  you 
write  you  do  not  set  to  work  to  bring  home  to 
yourself  by  thinking  over  it  daUy;  you  feel  so 
sure  about  it  because  you  can  read  it  over  any 
time      But  what  you  don't  write,  you  are  afraid 
It  will  slip  away  from  you,  and  you  therefore 
set  to  work  at  once  to  rehearse  it  day  by  day  "  '* 
To  know  the  Symbol   by  heart  was  to  the 
early  Christians  a  matter  of  life  and  death.  In 
a  etter  «  to  the  aged  Alypius  »  '^  St.  Augustine 
relates  how  a  pagan  of  the  name  of  Dioscorus 
had  a   dearly  loved  daughter  whose  life  was 
despaired  of,  and  how,  upon  his  taking  a  vow  to 
become  a  Christian,  she  was  restored  to  health, 
bailing  to  keep  his  vow,  he  was  struck  blind. 
All  at  once  he  bethought  him  f  hat  his  blindness 
was  a  judgment  of  God  upo,   him  for  havino- 
broken  Ins  vow.     A  second  time  he  vows  he 
wil    perform  his  first  vow  if  he  recovers  his 
sight.     This  he  does,  and  is  duly  baptized,  but 
he  has  not  got  the  Symbol  by  heart,  alleging  as 
excuse  that  he  is  not  able.     He  is  now  struck 
With  paralysis,  which  extends  to  his  tongue. 

"Migne,  torn.  17;  col.  tl60. 
"  Migne,  torn.  33,  col.  1012. 

63 


fi 


THE  SYMBOL 

Admonished  in  a  dream  that  this  has  happened 
to  him  because  of  his  not  having  recited  the 
Symbol  from  memory,  he  makes  a  confession  to 
this  effect  in  writing,  learns  the  Symbol  by 
heart,  and  is  freed  at  length  from  all  his  in- 
firmities. Modern  incredulity  may  smile  at 
the  childlike  simplicity  of  him  who  tells  the 
story.  But  the  great  bishop  of  Hippo,  were 
he  still  with  us,  could  say,  as  Newman  said 
under  like  circumstances :  Hippoclides  doesn't 
care. 


VI. 


Testimont 

OF  Eastern 

Fathers. 


We  will  now  turn  to  the  Eastern 
Church.  Our  first  witness  shall  be 
St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  who  became 
Bishop  of  that  ancient  See  about  the  middle 
of  the  fourth  century.  His  testimony  is  so 
explicit,  and  so  much  to  the  purpose,  that  it 
must  be  given  at  length  in  his  own  words. 
He  is  addressing  the  class  of  cotnpetentea 
on  the  eve  of  their  baptism : 

"  But  take  thou  and  hold,  as  a  learner,  and 
in  profession,  that  faith  only  which  is  now  de- 
livered to  thee  by  the  Church,  and  is  fenced 

64 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

not  read  the  Scriptures,  but  some  as  beiuff  un- 
learned others  by  business,  are  hindered  from 
knowledge  (of  them),  in  order  that  the  soul 
may  not  perish  from  want  of  instruction,  we 
comprehend  the  whole  doctrine  of  the  faith  in 
a  few  sentences.  This  I  wish  you  to  remember 
in  the  very  phrase,  and  to  rehearse  it  with  all 
diligence  amongst  yourselves,  not  writing  it 
on  paper,  but  graving  it  by  memory  on  your 

lesthlnr^''^^'^?"'  ^"^'^  ^^  your  exercise, 
lest  haply  a  catechumen  should  overhear  the 
things  dehvered  to  you.  This  I  wish  you  to 
have  as  a  provision  by  the  way  during  tlie 
whole  period  of  life,  and  besides  this  nefer  to 
receive  any  other."~(7«^ecA.,  5 ;  n.  12.'« 

"And  I  could  wish  to  say  this  openly,"  are 
the  words  of  St.  Chrysostom  in  his  fortieth 
homily  on  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  '' 
but  I  dare  not  on  account  of  those  who 
are  not  initiated.  They  render  the  exposi- 
tion  of  the  subject  more  difficult  to  us,  in- 
asmuch as  we  are  constrained  either  not  to 
speak  plainly,  or  to  make  known  the   mys- 

"  Migne,  P.  O.,  torn.  83. 
"Migne,  P.O.,  torn.  61. 
5  65 


THE  SYMBOL 


teries  to  them.  But  I  will  speak,  as  £ar  as 
may  be,  covertly  and  in  a  veiled  manner. 
For  after  the  recital  of  those  mystical  and 
dread  words,  and  the  awfid  canons  of  doctrine 
that  have  come  down  from  heaven,  we  add  this 
also  at  the  end,  when  we  are  to  be  baptized 
and  are  bidden  to  say,  /  believe  in  the  resur- 
rection of  the  dead" 

St.  Basil  the  Great  witnesses  for  the  Church 
in  Gappadocia.  "  Of  the  dogmas  and  teach- 
ings preserved  in  the  Church,"  he  writes,  "  we 
have  some  from  the  doctrine  committed  to 
writing,  and  some  we  have  received,  transmit- 
ted to  us  in  a  secret  manner,  from  the  tradition 
of  the  Apostles;  both  these  have  the  same 
force  in  forming  religion ;  and  no  one  will 
gainsay  either  of  these,  no  one,  that  is,  who 
has  the  least  experience  of  the  laAvs  of  the 
Church."^"  Again ;  Dogma  is  one  thing, 
and  preaching  anot.  i-;  for  the  former  is 
guarded  in  silence,  while  preachings  are  openly 
proclaimed."  That  ho  means  by  "dogma" 
especially  the  Symbol  appears  from  the  words 
he  uses  a  little  further  on  :     "  The  very  Con- 

»  De  Spirit.  Sancto,  c.  27 ;  n.  60  (Migne,  P.  G.,  torn.  83). 

66 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

fession  of   Faith  in    t?„*l        « 
naif  of  the  second  ceriturv      W.o      i? 

Blessed   doctrine,   directly    from    P.t„  J 

James,  and  John,  and  Paul  the  Hoi  T'    T'^ 
having  received  it  .„  ^  Apostles, 

the  fafher  -     He  oallsTT'  tl""  '"" 
vener«M«  rule  of  tr,1v  "^'^^'atedand 

'he  origin's  the tl^e^' Tr" ^ '™'" 

p...^a.otheprof^cShSt:c::t:: 

67 


si  i 


H 


nl 


M    < 


THE  SYMBOL 


i 


il 


[  i 


of  heaven  and  earth "  contained  in  the  first 
article  of  the  Creed.  He  speaks  of  it  as 
knowledge  "  which  has  come  down,  transmitted 
without  writing  to  a  few  by  successions  from 
the  Apostles,"  and  distinguishes  between  it 
and  the  apostolic  doctrine  contained  in  Scrip- 
ture, saying :  "  For  as  the  doctrine,  so  also 
was  the  tradition  of  all  the  Apostles,  one." 

Now,  this  "blessed  tradition,"  which  was 
handed  down  orally  from  the  Apostles,  and 
which,  being  a  tradition  of  "  doctrine,"  must 
at  the  least  have  included  the  Symbol,  whatever 
else  it  may  have  included,  he  affirms  to  have 
been  guarded  as  a  secret.  He  conceives  it  to 
be  "the  delineation  of  a  soul  that  loves,  to 
guard  the  blessed  tradition  so  that  it  may  not 
escape."  He  says  that,  "Secret  things,  like 
God,  are  entrusted,  not  to  writing  but  to  oral 
teaching,"  with  much  more  to  the  same 
purpose. 

Let  me  make  an  end  of  citation  with  a  pass- 
age from  the  Stromata : 

"  Some  of  these  secret  things  I  deliberately 
pass  by,  making  a   selection  after  reflection, 

68 


III  t 
li 


OF  THE  APOSTLEfl. 

being  afraid  to  commit  to  writing  thino.«  wl,'  u 

^«m  fear  U^  S  '1'^;^*  w-tth'"' 
taking  them  in  a  wrong  senLmio-lT/f  n-"' 
error,  and  we  should  tlfus  belfoS  t„^  '"'" 
:ng  a,  they  say  .h    use  pr«.K:wtft; 

to  declare!  and  thoS  hilt tr""'-?"^'  ^^^ 
though  silent  to  pfint  o„t^  I'^Ht -fi  r"* 
before  the  readers  the  do^L  rt.,f  ^  ''I  '"y 
taught  by  celebrated  heS  an/, -m""  ""'" 
to  them  all  that  ought  tob?'r  •  i'  "'^^'^ 
interior  contemplXn  „f  t  P'^?*''  *°  ""« 
will  be  procSd^n  bv      ''"'"''^^.ffe,  which 

celebrate?  a7d  vfne  abk'™)!  .Tt'l  V^  *"  ""^ 
.e^.ng.omtbeorigit^ 


VII. 

There  has  been  produced  evi-  i  Conclusion. 
denee  enough  and  to  spare  that    

about   and   jealoudy  guarded    by   the   Disci- 

69 


Li 


THE  SYMBOL 


n 


:n: 


■ 


I  ! 
*  t 


ht 


^line  of  the  Secret,  that  the  early  Christian 
writers  religiously  refrained  from  reproduc- 
ing it  in  their  works,  and  even  from  put- 
ting it  at  all  in  writing.  But  consider  how 
fraught  with  significance  is  this,  and  how  effec- 
tually it  serves  to  discredit  the  method  of  his- 
torical criticism,  so-calied,  as  applied  to  the 
question  of  the  authorship  of  the  Creed.  Your 
ingenious  critic,  with  his  vast  apparatus  of 
learning,  with  an  industry  and  patience  in  re- 
search beyond  all  praise  and  worthy  of  all  emu- 
lation, ransacks  the  writings  of  sub-apostolic 
and  early  times  for  the  Symbol,  and  declares 
he  cannot  find  it.  No  marvel  that  he  cannot 
find  it ;  he  seeks  the  living  among  the  dead. 
The  Creed  is  in  the  heart  and  on  the  lips  of 
the  Church  of  the  living  God ;  he  is  looking 
for  some  fossil  remains  of  a  casket  that  might  be 
thought  to  have  enclosed  it,  but  didn't;  for,  to 
cite  once  more  the  words  of  St.  Jerome :  "  The 
Symbol  of  our  Faith  and  Hope,  handed  down 
to  us  from  the  Apostles,  is  not  written  with 
ink  on  paper,  but  graved  on  the  fleshly  tablets 
of  the  heart."  To  the  weary  and  sore-per- 
plexed critic,  peering  into  ancient  tomes,  grop- 

70 


•:-V 


OF  THE  AroSTLES. 

inff  in  t.,e  twilight  of  those  early  times,  seekini, 
in  vain  the  source  whence  came  the  Symbol 
the  words  of  Augustine  and  Jerome  and  Rufi- 
nus,  of  Basd  and  Cyril  and  Clement,  should 
l»ave  been  a-;  the  legend  on  the  sign-post  to 
^7  ^»^«ely  warning  of  No  Thoroughfare. 
liut   he  heeded  not  the  warning;  he  had  no 
ejes    or  .f  he  would  plod  his  way,  groping 
ever,  tilJ  at  length  he  has  fetched  .p  .•„  a  blind 
aUey.     For  this  is  just  where  it.  fo^Iare  to  find 
other  than  an  anonymous  a^?^o:  r.>r    ;  -  ^reat 
Creed  of  Christendom  has      " 
cism— in  a  cul-de-sac. 

To  the  searcher  for  the  f :\  uii;  ^ 
Hterary  remains  of  the  early  a^ 
almost  say  as  the  Angel,  said \o 


't  inM.,'v 


enti- 
ty''■-^-  the 
-iiose  who 


sought  m  the  sepulchre  the  Lord  of  the  Sym- 
bol-- surrexit  non  est  hie,    « He   is   risen- 
He  IS  not  here."     For  those  in  whose  minds 
and  hearts  the  Symbol  came  from  the  Anos- 
ties  down  to  later  generations  have  mounted 
to  that   "house   of   many   mansions"   where 
Faith    IS    merged    in    Vision.      "When    we 
reach  that  place  where  we  shall  reign,"  says  St 
Augustme,in  his  fifty-eighth  homily,  "there 

71   . 


ii 

.•  i 
i  I 


IBfi  SYMBOL 


1  f 


will  be  no  more  need  of  our  saying  the  Sym- 
bol ;  we  shall  see  God ;  God  Himself  ^ill  be 
our  Vision,  and  the  vision  of  God  will  be  the 
reward  of  this  oui*  Faith." 


72 


i.i>^;T  * 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  QUEST  OF  THE  SYMBOL. 
I. 


True  Start- 
ing-point. 


"What  the    living  Church  of 
God  handed  down  from  genera- 
tion to  generation  of  behevers  as 
the  Symbol  of  the  Apostles  was,  with  slight 
variations  affecting  neither  its  substance  nor  its 
essential    meaning,   the    Baptismal   Creed   of 
Christendom  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries. 
St.  Leo  the  Great,  who  became  Pope  in  440 
A.D.,  writing  to  the  monks  of  Palestine,  refers 
to  it  as  "the  Symbol  of  salvation  which  you 
recited  before  many  witnesses  when  you  re- 
ceived   baptism.''      And    again,  in   a   letter 
against   Eutyches,  addressed  to  Flavian,  Pa- 
triarch of  Constantinople,  he  says,  speaking  of 
that  arch-heretic  :  "  What  instruction   has  he 

1  Ep.  134 ;  c.  8  (Migne,  torn.  54,  col.  1068). 

78 


w*^f^ 


THE  SYMBOL 


got  from  the  sacred  pages  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament or  the  Old,  when  he  does  not  understand 
even  ,the  elements  of  the  Symbol  ?  Of  the 
Symbol  which  is  on  the  lips  of  all  candidates 
for  baptism  throughout  the  whole  world,  that 
old  man  iias  not  yet  grasped  the  meaning.'*  ^ 
This  period,  then,  in  which  it  is  matter  of  his- 
torical record  that  the  Symbol  was  the  Bap- 
tismal Creed  of  the  Universal  Church,  is  the 
true  starting-point  in  the  quest  of  its  origin. 


IT. 


The  Symbol  :         Before    settinff     out     on     our 

One  • 
•  quest,  we  shall  do  well^  to  con- 
sider what  our  real  objective  is,  and  by  what 
way  we  are  to  reach  it.  At  the  period 
we  have  taken  for  our  starting-point,  the 
Church  of  Rome  has  its  Symbol,  and  the  Church 
of  Aquileia  has  its  Symbol,  and  the  ClPTch  of 
Antioch  has  its  Symbol,  and  the  Church  of 
Alexandria  has  its  Symbol.  In  short,  the  prin- 
cipal Churches  throughout  the  world  have 
each  its  own  Symbol.     Are  we  to  seek  a  diverse 

»  Ad  Flav. ;  c.  1  (Migne,  torn.  54,  col.  757). 

74 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

Origin  for  each  of  these  Symbols,  or  for  all  a 
common  ong^^n  ?     We  must  find  one  origin  for 
aU.    And  why?    Beeanse,  after  all,  i.!  spite 
of  variations   m   the  form  and  wording,  the 
Symbol  IS  one-one   in  its  scope,  one  in  its 
meaning,  one  in  its  structure,  one  in  type,  one 
11  all  Its  essential  elements.     So  little  does  St 
Leo  regard  these  variations  in  the  form  of  the 
Symbol  as  affecting  its  unity  that  he  affirms  it 
to  be,  not  only  one  in  all  the  Churches,  but 
.".changeable     as  well.'    From  the  begin- 
n.ng  there  IS  "one  Lord,  one  Faith,  one  Bap- 
tism o„e  God  and  Father  of  all."     The  Faith 
of  the  One  Fold  is  one  from  the  first,  there- 
lore  IS  the  Symbol  or  Confession  of  the  Faith 
one      The  one  Church  can  have  but  one  Creed 
-this  needs  not   even    to  be  pointed  out  to 
tho«,  that  are  ot  the  household  of  the  faith. 
As  for  those  that  are  without,  they  have  only 
to  glance  into  the  writing,  of  the  early  Fathers 

I-o".t.     St   Leo   does  but  echo  the    words  of 
Christian  A„ti,,„ity,  as  we  shall  have  occasion 


'*i 


'^''ii>i'-aau.;o.3(m„g^,u,n, 

75 


54,  col.  986J, 


THE  SYMBOL 

to  point  out  presently,  when  he  speaks  of  the 
one  and  unchangeable  Confession  of  Faith. 

The   conclusion    thus   reached    on    logical, 
theological,  and  historical  grounds  regarding 
the  unity  of  the  Symbol,  is  borne  out  also   by 
analogical  considerations.     In  living  organisms 
unity    of  structure  implies  unity  of  type,  and 
unity  of  t^  pe  involves  unity  of  origin.     Organ- 
isms sprung  from  the  same  source  will  vary  ; 
variation,  indeed,  is  the  very  condition  of  their 
growth ;  but  the  unity  of  structure  and  type 
that  is  discernible  in  them  will  ever  attest  their 
common  origin.     So  it  is  with  the  formularies 
of  the  Faith  in  tlie  fourth  and  fifth  centuries. 
Despite  the   variations  that  are  visible  on  the 
surface,  it  is  but  an  unpractised  eye  that  will 
not    detect  the  underlying  sameness  of  type 
and  lineament  which  bespeaks  their  common 
authorship.     Even  those  who  deny  the  Apos- 
tolic origin  of  the  Symbol  realize  that  there  is 
an  archetype  to  which  all   variant  forms  must 
be  traced,  though  they  are  at  a  loss  to  know 
what  that  is,  or  where  they  are  to  look  for  it. 
Dr.    Kattenbusch   identifies    it   with   the    Old 
Roman  Creed  j  Dr.  Loofs  follows  the  lead  of 

76 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

Caspari  in  tracing  it  to  the  Johannine  circle  in 
As.a  M.nor/    Strange    that    none   of   these 
ent.cs   has  been  led  to   trace  the  archetypal 
%mbol    o  the  Mother  Church   of  Jern  Jem 
The  cradle  of  Christianity  would  We  been  a 
not  unlikely  place  to  look  for  the  aborieinal 
Creed  of  Christianity.     And  it  might  not  have 
proved,  .t  should  seem,  a  bad  "  working  hypo- 
thesis,    that   the  men   whom  Christ  Himself 
commissioned   in    Jerusalem    to    "  teacn    all 
nations,   baptizing  them  in   the  name  of  the 
Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost  " 
had,  m  virtue  of  that  commission  and  in  ac- 
cordance with  it    drawn  up  the  Formula  of 
Faith  winch  should  serve  all  nations  for  their 
Baptismal  Creed.     But  the  method  of   histo- 
rical criticism  barred  this  hypothesis.     Besides, 
It  .s  not  pleasant  for  people  to  be  made  to  fee 
as  the  swart  Moor  of  Venice  felt  when  he  ex- 
claimed : 

Othello's  occuration's  gone. 


*  37*.  Church  quarterly  Review,  Oct.  1903.  pp.  218-23 

77 


;8 


THE  SYMBOL 


m. 


Method  of 
Historical 
Criticism, 


For  the  one  Symbol,  there- 
fore, which,  as  Cassian,  the  dis- 
ciple and  deacon  of  St.  Chry- 
sostom,  puts  it,  "  expresses  the  Faith  of  all  the 
Churches,"  ^  we  shall  seek  one  origin.  The 
variations  in  its  form  are  easily  accounted  for  by 
the  necessity  that  arose  in  particular  Churches 
for  a  more  explicit  statement  of  the  doctrines 
it  contained.  And  by  what  way  shall  we  pro- 
ceed in  our  quest  ?  Not  by  the  way  of  his- 
torical criticism,  for  that  way  is  blocked.  li 
leads  those  who  follow  it,  as  has  been  already 
pointed  out,  into  a  cul-de-sac.  The  historical 
critic  searches  for  the  Symbol,  or  traces  of  the 
Symbol,  among  the  remains  of  early  Christ- 
ian literature,  after  much  the  same  manner  as 
the  biologist  seeks  for  a  species,  or  traces  of  a 
species,  among  the  fossil  remains  of  early  geo- 
logical epochs.*  This  is  all  well  enough.  But  in 
the  eagerness  of  his  search,  he  overlooks  a  point 
of   capital  importance.     Between  literary   re- 

•  De  Tncar.  Christi,  1.  6 ;  c.  3  (Migne,  torn.  50,  col.  145). 
«  Dogma,  Oierarchia  e  Culto,  p.  822. 

78 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

mains  and  the  fossa  remains  of  plant  or  animal 
there  «  a  radical  distinction.     The  lat^"^ 

deliver  their  message  to  those  who  fi„d  them 
Now,  here  .s  where  the  method  of  historicl  criti 
«  «n  «,  a  fault.  It  takes  the  Symbol,  bv  di^  If 
P^eomg  together  the  scatte«,d  elements  of  it 
from  the  wntmgs  of  Cyril  and  Ruiinus  and 
Augnstme,  and  pays  no,  the  slightest  hL"o 
the  warnmg  which  these  ,«me  ^tiZtLZ 

Tthe  r^r    .^  ^^  ^"-  ^ters  tr 
are  the  first  to  describe  »«  expouml  the  Symbol 

t..at  they  did  noftrei^t-rrr:,' 
S/otrr-^a^:^ '-'-"- 

that  ,s  wUlmg  to  trust  the«  ^^^  „,,,„  ^^^ 
tell  us  what  the  articles  of  ti«  %,„ho,  „,^ "j^ 
the,r  day.  and  in  what   ,^  4„,  „,,7 '" 

»nged,  but  will  not  trust  .W,^  2:^- 
»»  how  the  Symbol  was  tr^^.^,  „,  '^ 
by  their  forefathers  i„  the  faith  ■  ft,  .^ 
of  the  critic  to  fancy  that  he  can  run  wiU.      e 

79 


i:| 


THE  SYMBOL 


I 


hare  and  hunt  with  the  hounds  after  this  fash- 
ion.    "I  wiU  accept  nothing,"   he  declares, 
"  but  what  I  can  find  documentary  evidence 
for."     AH  very  well.     But  let  the  whole  evi- 
dence  be  taken.     It  wiU  not  do  to  take  this 
because  it  fits  in  with  a  preconceived  theory, 
and    reject    that    because    it    doesn't.     The 
method  that  picks  and  chooses  in  this  way  is 
neither  critical  nor  historical.     "  The  very  Con- 
fession of  Faith   in   Father,    Son,  and   Holy 
Ghost,"  says  St.  Basil,  "from  what  written 
records  have  we  it  ?  "     The  critic  may,  if  he 
likes,  put  this  statement  of  St.  Basil's  to  the 
test,  and  proceed  to  ransack  written   records 
for  the  Confession  of  Faith.     He  has  a  perfect 
right  to  do  this.     But  he  has  no  warrant,  and 
no  shadow  of  warrant,  on  failing  to  find  it,  as 
he  was  foredoomed  to  fail,   to  say  that  the 
Symbol  did  not  then  exist  nt  all.     This  is  an 
assumption  so  arbitrary  that  it  is  difficult  to 
speak  of  it  with   composure.     His   assumed 
first  principle  will  not  let  the  critic  see  that  he 
has  been  looking  in  the  wrong  place  for  the 
Symbol. 

In  our  quest  for  the   origin  of  the  Creed, 

80 


la 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

then,  we  shall  set  out,  not  with  an  assumed 
first  principle,  but  with  a  fact  proved  by  docu- 
ments, and  proved  up  to  the  hilt,  namely,  that 
the  Creed  was  not  transmitted  in  writing  to 
the  Christians  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries, 
but    handed    on    by   word    of   mouth,    and 
"graved  on  the  fleshly  tablets  of  the  heart." 
The  knowledge  of  this  fact  will  be  as  a  lamp 
unto  our  feet.     In  the  light  of  it  we  shall  not 
look  for  the  Symbol  itself  in  the  writings  of 
the  earUer  time,  assured  beforehand  that  it  is 
not  to  be  found  there.     We  shall  look  only  for 
traces  of  it,  tokens  of  its  existence  in  the  minds 
and  hearts  of  believers,  in  the  mouths  and  on 
the  hps  of  the  neophyte  and  the  martyr,  and 
these  we  shall  find  in  plenty. 

Of  course,  no  comprehensive  or  minute 
search  into  original  sources  can  be  made  here, 
nor  shall  it  be  attempted,  nor  is  it,  inrV^fj' 
needful.  We  shall  pick  up  in  pas.si3i<:r  „r-c  or 
two  allusions  to  the  Symbol  from  third  Lntirv 
writings,  and  proceed  straightway  to  tC 
second  century,  which  is  to-day  the  bar.V 
ground  of  the  rival  theories  as  to  its  origin. 


16 


81 


11' 

h. 


il 


THE  SYMBOL 


IV. 


The  Creed 

IN  THE  Third 

Century. 


Eutychianus,  who  became  Pope 

,    *"  275,  A.D.,  says  in  the  course 

of  a  pastoral  charge  to  the  Ro- 
man   clergy:     "See    that    you    teach   your 
flocks  the  Symbol  and  the  Lord's  Prayer."' 
In  hjs  letter  to  Magnus,  written  before  the 
middle  of  the  third  century,  St.  Cyprian  de- 
clares that,  while  those  who  are  cut  off  from 
the  communion  of  the  Catholic  Church  "are 
baptized  .n  the  same  Symbol  as  we  are,"  yet 
they  "have  not  the  same  law  (interpretation) 
of  the  Symbol  as  we  have,  nor  the  same  inter- 
rogatory.  •    I„  the  time  of  St.  Cyprian,  there- 
fore, the  Baphsmal  Creed  was  known  as  the 
Symbol..    And  the  Saint  draws  a  clear  dis- 
tmetion  between  this  Creed  and  the  trina  in- 

i7'-^Tnu  *?'"  '•"^"ogato.y  which  is  in 
«^e  m  the  Church  to  this  day.  It  is  important 
to  note  this.    The  Symbol  goes  before  the  in- 

Ep.  ad  Magnum,  c.  7  (Migne,  ton.  8,  col.  1143) 
&,,„.,»  Mj.,,  i„  the  work  already  cited  ,  "  S.  Cypriano 

iuu.a.t'r^'rhe"^;:;::^'^"-'"^'™--'— '"^lo"!" 


%w 


^% 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

terrogatory  in  Cyprian,  and  this  is  the  logical 
order.     For  the  triple  query  of  the  minister  of 
baptism  supposes  a  knowledge  of  the  Symbol 
in  the  candidate  for  baptism,  else  he  could  not 
make  an  inteUigent  reply.     From  this  we  may 
conclude  that  the  Symbol  is  not  derived  from 
the  interrogatory,  but  conversely,  the  interroffa- 
tory  from  the  Symbol.     Finally,  there  are  dis- 
tinct traces  of  the  Symbol,  nearly  all  the  ele- 
ments of  it,  indeed,  to  be  found  in  a  treatise  on 
the  Trinity  written  by  Novatian,  the  schismati- 
cal  anti-Pope  and  founder,  conjointly  with  No- 
vatus,  of  the  Novatian  heresy,  about  260,  A.D. 
The  opening  words  are  :  «  The  Rule  of  Truth 
requires  that  we  should  first  of  all  believe  in 
God  the  Father  and  Lord  Almighty."  '» 


The  Creed 

IN 

Tertullian. 


V. 

Tertullian  is  a  witness  to  the 
faith  and  traditions  of  the  second 
century,  his  most  notable  works 
having   been   written    in    its    closing   years, 
or  in   the  opening  years  of  the  century  that 

^De  Trinit.  c,  1  (Migne,  ib.,  col.  885). 

83 


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aia  (716)   288  -  59B9  -  r^x 


THE  SYMBOL 

followed.     There   are   in   his   writings   refer- 
ences almost    without   number   to    the   Creed 
of  the  Church  in  his  day.     He  does  not  call 
it   by  the  name   of  Symbol,  though  he  does 
use  hi  describing  it  the  word  "  tessera,"  which 
is   also   from  the    Greek   and   has   the   same 
meaning.     To   TertuUian    the   Creed  is  "the 
doctrine,"  "  the  tradition,"  and  more   especi- 
ally the  "  Law  "  or  "  Rule  of  Faith."     In  three 
several  works  "  he  gives  us  a  more  or  less  ex- 
plicit statement  of  its  articles,  with  a  certain 
slight  variation  in  each  case.     These  are  ex- 
hibited below  in  a  tabular  form  for  purposes 
of  comparison  with  one  another  and  with  the 
Old  Roman  Creed. 


Creed  Forms  in  Tertullian. 


Old  Roman         De  Praescript. 

Creed.  c.  18. 

(1)  I  believe  (1)  I  believe 

In  Ood  tlio  in  one  God, 

Father  Alrrighty  maker  of  the 
world, 


Adv.  Prax.  c.  2.    De  Virg.  Vel.  c.  1. 


(1)  We  believe 
one  only  God, 


(1)  Belle vinK  In 
tho  one  only  Ood 
Almighty,  maker 
of  the  world, 


m  and  in 
Christ  Jpsua 
His  only  Son, 
our  Lord, 


(3)  the  Word 
called  His  Son, 
Jesus  Christ, 


(2)  and  th«  (2)  and  HIa 

Son  and  M  ord       Son.  Jesus 
of  one  only  God,  Christ, 
called  Jesus 
Christ, 


"  Dc  Praescript.,  Contra  Praxeam,  De  Virginibua  Ve- 
landin  ;  Migne,  toin.  2,  cols.  20,  156,  889- 

84 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


De  Praescript. 
c.  13. 


Old  Roman 
Creed 

the  V.rgm  Mary,   power  of  God 

the  Father  made 
flesh  lu  JlHry's 
•w-omb,  and  bora 
or  her, 


Adv.  Prax.  c.  2.    De  Virg.  Vel.  c.  1. 


(*)  Crucified 
under  Pontius 
Pilate  and 
buried, 


<4)  fastened 
to  a  Cross, 


,  (i)^  Him  suf- 
fered, dead, 
and  buried. 


(i)  crticifled 
under  Pontius 
Pilate, 


from  the  dead  ^ '  }"^'^^  to  life 

by  the  Father, 


(6)  Ascended 
into  heaven, 

,  (7)  Sitteth  at 
the  right  hand 
of  the  Father, 

(8)  whence  He 
shall  onnie  to 
Judge  quick  and 
dead. 


(7)  sat  at   the      (7)  ,,>,  „^ 


(8)  will  come 
in  glory  to 
take  the  good 
into  life  eter- 
nal, and  con- 
demn the  wicked 
to  perpetual 
fire, 


<8»  will  come 
to  judge 
living  and 
dead, 


(5)  on  the  third 
day  brought  to 
life  from  the 
dead, 

(6 1  received  in 
heaven, 

^7)  sits  now  at 
riarlit  hand  of 
Father, 

<8»  willcometo 
judge  living  and 
dead, 


(9)  And  in  the 
Holy  Ohost, 


_  (10)  the  holy 
Church,  ' 

01)  remission 
of  sins. 


Spirit,  '  Paraclete, 

(10)  to  govern 
believers, 


(12)  through 
resurrection     of 
the  (lush. 


We  h.ave  here  in  the  writing,  of  Tertullian, 
all  the  articles  of  the  Old  Roman  Creed  excel, 

85  ' 


THE  SYMBOL 


the  tenth  (which  is  implied  in  one  instance) 
and  the  eleventh.  Are  we  to  infer,  because 
these  two  articles  are  wanting,  that  they  were 
not  to  be  found  in  the  Creed  that  was  in  use  in 
his  day  ?  By  no  means.  TertuUian  does  not 
pretend  to  cite  that  formulary  word  for  word. 
The  words  given  above  in  parallel  columns  are 
picked  from  their  context,  where  they  are 
found,  in  some  instances,  mingled  with  extra- 
neous matter.  Besides,  the  phrases  in  the  sev- 
eral columns  do  not  tally  exactly  with  one 
another,  nor  with  the  words  of  the  Old  Roman 
Creed.  Nor  is  the  same  number  of  articles 
given  in  each  case,  nor  are  the  same  ones. 
Thus,  tlie  twelfth  article  is  wanting  in  Ad- 
versus  Fraxeam,  and  the  ninth  in  De  Virgin- 
ibus  Velandls,  wherein  the  form  approaches 
most  closely  to  that  of  the  Old  Roman  Creed. 
But  who  can  doubt  that  the  Rule  of  Faith 
which  TertuUian  so  often  refers  to,  and  which 
he  declares  to  be  "absolutely  one,  sole,  un- 
changeable, and  irreformable,"  "  had  its  set- 
ting of  words  fixed  uniform,  the  same  for  all  ? 


«  De  Virg.  Vel,  loc.  cit. 


86 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

We  may  surmise  that  Tertullian's  obiect  in 

varymg,  aa  he  does,  the  words  in  wh    h  he 
™nveys  the  doctrines  of  the  Creed  was  to  v^ 

W  the  uu..„t,ated  the  Sacred  Symbol  of  te 
Faith,  ,„  accordance  with  the  prevailin.  Disci- 
pline of  the  Secret.  The  economy  of  his  ,n. 
|..age  reca  ,s  that  passage  in  the  StromcJZ 
bt.  Clement  of  Alexandria,  where  he  says  that 
there  are  some  things  which  his  writing'  «wa 
ySoTi'  "'  "i",''"<'"'P^  "'"ie  co,fceaHng 

fnd  tL     t''/"''  """'°''*  '''<""?  ">  »-»fest! 
and  though  sdent  to  point  out."     One  is  at  1 

loss  otherwise  to  account  for  the  c    i  „s   ir 
cumstance   that,  in   ,he   three   several   Ice; 
^viere  Tertullian  professes  to  be  settin/f„rt 
the  content  of  the  Rule  „f  Faith,  on^e  a  d 
onc^ony  does  he  use  exactly  the 'same  fom 
wm  Iw."  "  ^'""^  "'  "'«  '^'^'^  g-en  above 
But  be  this  as  it  may,  certain  it  is  that  we 
cannot  nghtly  infer  a  given  article  to  hav^ Lin 
wanfug  „.  the  Creed  of  Tertullian  from    he 
mere  crcumstance  of  his  nut  making  expli  it 
menfon  of  ,t.     I„  the  very  passage  in  ,' 
he  professes  to  be  giving  the  "one!  unchanit 

87  ^ 


'i 


i^ 


THE  SYxMBOL 


1 

cij 
"If 


1^8 


'  il 


able,  irreformable "  Rule  of  Faith,  he  omits 
the  ninth  article,  which  he  nevertheless  gi »     in 
the  other  two  places.     What  is  more,  we  gatner 
from  a  passage  in  his  Liber  de  Baptis7no  (c.  6) 
that  the  ten...  article,  embodying  belief  in  "  the 
holy  Church,"  was  part  of  the  Creed  in  his  day. 
"  Since,  howevv-r,"  he  there  says,  "  the  profes- 
sion of  faith  is  made  and  the  pledge  of  salva- 
tion given  in  the  name  of  the  three,  mention  of 
the  Church  is  necessarily  added.     For  where 
the  three  are,  that  is,  the  Father,   Son,  and 
Holy  Ghost,  there  is  the  Church,  which  is  their 
body."'^      The   Baptismal   Creed,    therefore, 
included  the  tenth  article  in  TertuUian's  time. 
And  if  one  were  to  infer  from  his  not  mention- 
ino-  it  in  any  of  the  three  passages  referred  to 
above,  that  it  was  not  included,  the  inference 
would  be  false  and  contrary  to  fact.     Is  there 
not  the  very  strongest  kind  of  presumption  that 
a  similar  inference  drawn  from  the  same  prem- 
ises with  regard  to  the  eleventh  article  would 
similarly  be  unwarranted  ?     Besides,  the  doc- 
trine   of   the   remission   of   sins   is   expressly 


w  Migne,  torn.  1,  col.  1206. 


88 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


affirmed  in  the  treatise  on  Baptism  (chaps.  6 
and  10). 


t  ■ 


VI. 


The  Creed 

IN 

Irenaeus. 


Irenaeus,   the   disciple  of  that 
Polycarp    "who   had    not   only 
been  trained  by  the  Apostles,  and 
had  conversed  with   many  of  those  who  had 
seen  Christ,  but  also  had  been  constituted  by 
the  Apostles  Bishop  over  Asia,  in  the  Church 
of  Smyrna  "  '^  ig  ^^j.  ^^^^^  authoritative  witness 
to  the  existence  from  the  beginning  and  the 
Apostolic  authorship  of  the  Creed.     He  speaks 
of  it  in  one  place  as  "this  outline  "  's  ({„  the 
Greek,  x^P'^^^^ipa)  which  corresponds  to  "sym- 
bol,"  the    "tessera"  of   Tertullian,  and   the 
Latin  "indicium"  of  Rufinus),  but  usually  as 
the  Tradition,  and  specifically  as  the  Rule  of 
Truth.     With    him,  too,   as  with    Tertullian, 
this  "  Rule  of  Truth  which  he  received  by  his 

"  Ado.  Haer,  Bk.  3,  c.  3,  §  4.  I  cite  the  English  transla- 
tion by  Keble.  Of  the  Greek  original  of  this  great  work 
of  Irenaeus  only  some  fragments  have  come  down  to  us. 
The  Latin  version,  very  ancient,  is  the  basis  of  all  modern 
versions. 

«  Bk.  2,  c.  28,  g  1. 

89 


THE  SYMBOL 


baptism,"  '^  is  one  and  the  same  in  all  the 
world.  After  setting  forth  the  principal  arti- 
cles of  it,  as  exhibited  in  the  first  column  of 
the  syllabus  given  below,  he  goes  on  to  say : 

"  This  preaching  and  this  faith,  the  Church, 
as  we  said  before,  dispersed  as  she  is  in  the 
whole  world,  keeps  diligently,  as  though  she 
dwelt  but  in  one  house  ;  and  her  belief  herein 
is  just  as  if  she  had  only  one  soul,  and  the 
same  heart,  and  she  proclaims  and  teaches  and 
deuvers  these  things  harmoniously,  as  possess- 
ing one  mouth.  Thus  while  the  languages  of 
the  world  differ,  the  tenor  of  the  tradition  is 
one  and  the  same.  And  neither  have  the 
Churches  situated  in  the  regions  of  Germany 
beheved  otherwise,  nor  do  they  hold  any  other 
tradition,  neither  in  the  parts  of  Spain,  nor 
among  the  Celts,  nor  in  the  East,  nor  in  Egypt, 
nor  in  Libya,  nor  those  which  are  situate  in  the 
middle  parts  of  the  world.  .  .  .  Nor  will  he 
who  is  weak  in  discourse  abate  aught  of  the 
Tradition.  Yea,  the  Faith  being  one  and  the 
same,  neither  he  that  is  able  to  speak  much  of 
it  hath  anything  over,  nor  hath  he  that  speaks 
but  little  any  lack."  '^ 


»  Bk.  1,  c.  9,  §  4. 
»  lb.,  c.  10,  §  2. 


90 


OP  THE  APOSTLES. 


It 


As  in  Tertulliau,  so  in  Irenaeus,  we  find 
three  different  forms  of  the  Creed.  They  are 
arranged,  article  by  article,  in  the  follovvino- 
syllabus ;  ^ 


Syllabus   of  Creed  Forms  Found  in 
Iren^us. 


Book  First,  c.  10, 1. 

(1)  Faith  in  one  Ood 
the  Father  Almighty ; 


Book  Third,  e.  4,  2. 

(1)  Who  believe  in 
Ode  God  the  Framer 
of  Heaven  and  Earth, 


Book  Fourth,  c.  33,  7. 
(1)  His  faith  is  entire 
In  one  God  Almightv, 
of      whom     are     all 
things ; 


(3)  made  flesh  for 
our  salvation,  of  a 
Virgin, 

(4)  and  the  Passion, 


(5)  and  the  Rising 
from  the  dead 

(6)  and  the  bodily 
AscL  :sion  into 
Heaven, 

(T) 

(8)  And  His  Coming 
from  the  Heavens  ir 
tlie  glory  of  the 
Father  .  .  .  that  He 
may  administer  just 
judgment  to  them  all, 


(3)  who  submit  I'ed  to 
the  birth  which  was 
to  be  of  the  Virgin  ; 

(4)  who  suffered 
al.-.o  under  Pontius 
Pilate. 

(3)  and  risen  again. 


(6)  and  being  re- 
ceived in  brightness 


(T) 

(8)  will  come  in 
glory  as  the  Judge 
of  them  that  are 
judged 


(9)  and  in  the 
Ghost, 


Holy       (9) 


(3)  the  Son  of  God 
become  man 


(4) 


(5) 
(6) 

(7) 

(8) 


91 


(9)  And  in  the  Spirit 
of  God 


i\ 


THE  SYMBOL 


Boc't  First,  c.  10,  1. 
(10)  who  declared  .  .  . 
the  CEoonomies, 


(11)  such  as  .  .  .  per- 
severed in  His  love, 
whether  from  the  first 
or  after  penitency, 

(12)  and  to  raise  up 
all  Hesh  of  all  liumau 
nature. 


Book  Third,  c.  4,  2. 
(10) 


(11) 


(12| 


Book  Fourth,  c.  83,  7. 

(10)  the  original  sys- 
tem of  tlje  Church  in 
the  whole  world  " 

(11) 


(12) 


[W^ 


vs. 


From  u,ll  of  these  forms  the  seventh  article 
is  wanting  and  the  eleventh,  which  latter,  how- 
ever, is  very  clearly  implied  in  the  words  cited 
in  the  first  column.  We  note  the  same  peculi- 
arity iii  these  as  in  the  forms  found  in  Tertul- 
lian — a  marked  difference  in  the  wording  of 
the   several     articles,   which  one   can    hardly 

J8  To  Irenteus  the  Church  is  not  so  much  ar  article  of  the 
faith  as  its  teacher  and  guardian.  Not  tlie  less  was  tliere 
mention  of  it  in  his  Creed,  as  appears  even  more  clearly 
from  the  summary  of  the  Creed  that  he  gives  again  in  Bk. 
5,  c.  20  :  "  But  those  who  are  of  the  Church  have  a  legu- 
lar  path,  encircling  the  whole  world,  the  tr?  'ition  thereof 
from  the  Apostles  being  secure  ;  which  patli  grants  us  to 
behold  that  all  have  one  and  the  same  faith,  since  all  teach 
one  and  the  same  Father,  believe  the  same  Economy  of 
the  Son  of  God's  Incarnation,  and  know  the  same  gift 
of  the  Spirit,  and  meditate  on  the  same  precepts,  and 
maintain  the  same  form  of  government  over  the  Church, 
and  wait  for  the  same  coming  of  the  Lord,  and  maintain 
the  same  salvation  of  the  whole  man,  i.  e.,  of  the  soul  and 
body." 

93 


ll 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

believe  to  have  been  accidental.     One  thing 
is  plain  :  neither  TertuUian  nor  Irenseus  gives 
us   the   very    words,  the  ipsissima  verba,  of 
their  Rule  o£  Faith.     Those  words  were  writ- 
ten in  their  memories  from  the  day  of  their 
baptism,  but  as  if  to  baffle  the  curiosity   of 
the  curious,  they  do  not  choose  to  write  them 
out.     To  try,  therefore,  to  piece  together  from 
thoir  writings  the  fabric  of  the  Creed  just  as 
It  stood  in  their  day,  were  as  futile  as  the  act 
of  one   who   should   essay  to  build  upon  the 
shifting   sands.     But    knowing   what   we   do 
and   what  ^^^ey  tell  us   of  the   veneration  iu 
which  this  Rale  of  Truth  was  held,  the  jeal  us 
care  with  which  it  was  guarded,  the  pains  that 
were  taken  to  grave  it  "  on  the  fleshly  tablets 
of  the  heart  "  of  lettered  and  unlettered  alike, 
the  absolute  oneness  of  the  Faith  of  which  it 
was  the  authorized  Formula,  the   quality  of 
unchangeableness    that    belonged    and    still 
belongs  to  it,  we  seem  certainlv   not  to  lack 
warrant  for  affirming  that  the  Creed  learned  by 
Irenaeus  from  Polycarp  was,  article  for  article, 
if  not  word  for  word,  tL     same  as  that  which 
was  recited  two  centuries  after  in  the  Church 

93 


I; 


%      - 


rl: 


THE  SYMBOL 

of  Smyrna  ;  and  that  the  Creed  in  which  the 
catechumen  TertuUian  professed  his  faith  on 
the  day  of  his  baptism,  was,  in  like  manner, 
the  same  as  that  whicii  St.  Augustine  expounds 
in  hii  homilies. 

This  Rule  of  Truth,  Ireuseus  assures  us  in 
the  passage  cited  above,  was  the  same  in  the 
East  as  in  the  AVest.  And  it  was,  he  further 
assures  us,  transmitted  by  word  of  mouth. 
"  To  this  Rule,"  he  says,  "consent  many  nations 
of  the  barbarians,  those  I  mean  who  believe 
in  Christ,  having  salvation  written  by  the 
Spirit  in  their  hearts,  without  paper  and  ink, 
and  diligently  keeping  the  old  Tradition,  who 
believe  in  One  God  the  Framer  of  Heaven  and 
Earth  and  of  all  things  that  are  in  them,  by 
Christ  Jesus  the  Sen  of  God."  After  which 
he  goes  on  to  give  the  other  articles  that  are 
to  be  found  in  the  second  column  of  the  syl- 
labus. 

VII 

.^?.^?.^y!?^?.^:.:      Let  us  here  pause  to  consider 

how    untenable    is   the   position 

of   the   votaries   of  historical   criticism.     Re- 

94 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

lying   mainly,   if   not   wholly,    on    the   testi- 
mony of  Tertullian  and  Irenaeus,  they  affirm 
that   the  Symbol   existed   in    the   latter    half 
of  the  second  century.     But  it  did  not  exist 
in  the  earlier  half  of  the  same  century    say 
the  critics,  because   it  is  not  to  be  found  in 
any   writings.      Consequently,   it   must   have 
been  composed  about  the  middle  of  that  cen- 
tury.    By  whom,  and  where?     Probably  at 
Kome,  by  some  one  or  other  whose  name  has 
been  withheld. '^     We  are  asked  to  believe  that 
the  Creed  of  the  Christian  Church,  the  Creed 
which  we  know  on  the  testimony  of  witnesses 
who  lived  at  the  time,  to  have  been,  ah-eady 
in  the  second  half  of  the  century,  the  unvary- 
ing Standard  of  the  Christian  Faith  in  all  the 
Churches  from  the  West  even  to  the  farthest 
East,  was  composed  about  the  middle  of  that 
same   century   by   an    anonymous   somebody. 
This  Creed,  which  all  the  Bishops  assembled 
at  Nice  could  scarce  venture  to  change  by  the 
addition  of  words  that  did  but  more  explicitly 
declare  the  meaning  of  one  or  two  of  its  articles, 
is  assumed  to  have  been  framed  and  imposed 
"  Dogma,  Gerarchio  e  Culto,  p.  324. 

95 


THE  SYMBOL 

upon  the  Christian  world  less  than  two  cen- 
turies before  by  somebody  or  other  whose  very 
name  is  buried  in  oblivion.  Credat  Judaeus  ! 
But  this  is  not  all.  The  very  men,  on  whose 
testimony  the  existence  of  the  Creed  in  the 
latter  half  of  the  second  century  is  known  to 
the  critics,  declare  repeatedly,  in  the  most  ex- 
plicit and  emphatic  way,  that  it  came  down 
from  the  Apostles.  This,  however,  as  well  as 
some  other  points,  must  be  dealt  with  in 
another  chapter. 


96 


i 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


<  li] 
i 


CHAPTER  III. 


HARNACK  ON  THE  CREED. 
I. 

I  have  snid  that  Irenaeus  is  our    .'  Harnack's 
greatest  witness  to  the  Apostolic    I  eq^St 

authorship  of  the  Symbol.     The    

disciple  of   Polycarp,  he  is  but   one  step   re- 
moved from  St.  John  the  Evangelist ;  hailino- 
from  Asia  Minor,  Bishop  in  Gaul,  he  is  the 
connecting  link  between  the  East  and  the  West. 
Before  citing  his  testimony,  however,  and  that 
of  Tertulhan,  some  notice  must  be  taken  of  a 
singular  opinion  of  Harnack's.     This  view  of 
the  Rule  of  Truth  cited  by  Iren^us  is  part  of 
Harnack's  general  theory  regarding  the  origin 
of  the  Syr-bol,  and  cannot  profitably,  or  indeed 
at  all,  be  dealt  with  apart  from  it.     Also,  we 
must  take  account  of  the  methods  and  mental 
equipment  of  the  man. 
7  97 


i  i 


;, 


I 


:l 


THE  SYMBOL 

Harnack   has   said  his   last,   or  rather   his 
latest,  word  on  the  origin  o£  the  Symbol  in  an 
article  written  for  the  third  edition  of  Herzog's 
Eedlencyclojjadle,  which  has  been  translated 
into  English  by  the  Rev.   Stewart  Means  and 
edited   by  Thomas  Bailey    Saunders.'     Splen- 
didly equipped,  as  this   distinguished   German 
writer  is,  in  respect  of  mental  gifts  and  scholar- 
ship, he  yet  lacks  some  qualifications  that  are 
simply  indispensable  to   the    one   who  would 
trace  the  origin  of  the  Symbol.     He  lacks  the 
gift  of  Faith,  to  begin  with ;  he  lacks  the  con- 
ception of  the  Church  of  Christ  as  one  in  all 
nations— one  Fold  in  which  there  is  one  Faith 
and  one  Baptism ;  and  he  lacks  the  knowledge, 
or,  at  any  rate,  the  realization  of  the  fact  that 
the  Symbol  was  not  first  given  in  writing,  nor 
handed  down  from  one   generation  to  another 
in  writing,   nor  suffered   to  be  put  at  all  in 
writing  until  the  DiscipUne  of  the  Secret  began 
to  be  relaxed.     As  a  consequence  of  these  defi- 
ciencies, there  are  some  things  that  Harnack 
does   not  see  at  all ;  and,  in  the  case  of  the 

1  The  Apostles'  Creed,  by  Adolf  Haruack.     London  : 
Adam  and  Charles  Black.    1901. 

98 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


i 


things  that  he  does  see,  he  not  infrequently 
mapnfies  what  is  trifling  in  itself,  and  makes 
little  ot,  or  Ignores,  what  is  important.     Grop- 
ing m  the  dim  liglif,  of  those  early  ages,  he  re- 
minds one  of  the  blind  man  in  the  Gospel  whose 
sight  was  being  given  back  to  him,  and  who  at 
first  saw  "men  as  trees  walking."     In  short, 
llarnack  lacks  the  clearer  insight  which  Faith 
gives,  and  he  lacks  the  sense  of  perspective 
which  would  enable  him  to  see  things  in  their 
true  proportions. 

n. 

Let  me   give  a  few  examples 
of   Harnack's    work   as   a  critic 
from  the  little   book  before  me. 
At   page   4,  he  says:  "Indeed,  the   Eastern 
Church  has  at  no  time  traced  any  creed  to  an 
Apostohc  origin."     This  is  a  case  of  ignoring- 
positive  testimony.     The  Fathers  of  the  East^ 
ern  Church  will  be  cited  later  on  in  rebuttal. 
At  page  27,  he  draws  attention  to  the  position 
Of      remissionem   peccatorum,    resurrectionem 
carms  et  vitam  aeternam  per  sanctam  ecclesiam  " 
m  the  Creed  of    the    Carthaginian    Church 

99 


Specimens  of 

His  Critical 

Work. 


illi 


I 

|ihl! 


IM 


I. 

i!  5 


THE  SYMBOL 

Here,  being  dim  of  vision,  he  mistakes  the 
baptismal  interrogatory  for  the  Symbol.  The 
heretics,  says  St.  Cyprian,  from  whom  the 
words  are  taken,  "lie  in  the  interrogatory 
when  they  say,  '  Dost  thou  believe  in  the  re- 
mission of  sius  .  .  .  through  the  Holy 
Church?'  since  they  have  not  the  Church."  ' 

At  page  17  we  read  :  "  I  cannot,  however, 
convince°mvself  that  twelve  divisions  [of  the 
Creed]  were  originally  intended.     No  one  who 
wanted  to  construct  a  creed  with  twelve  articles 
in  three  main  divisions  would  be  so  clumsy  as 
to  divide  it  into  1  +  7  +  4,  or  rather  2  +  6  +  4." 
It  is  pretty  safe  to  say   that  twelve  divisions 
were  not  dh-ectly  intended;  but  indirectly  or 
incidentally,  they  were.     In  building  the  fabric 
of  their  Creed  on  the  lines  of  the  Trinitarian 
Formula  laid  down  for  them  by  the  Master,  the 
Apostles  found  it  needful  to  use  seven  explicit 
words  in  telling  all  that  was  to  be  told  about 
the  Word  of  the  second  article,  and  four  more 

a  Ep.  ad  Magnum  (Migne,  torn.  3,  col.  1144).    The  words 
•'  carnis  resurrectionem  "  are  not  in  Cyprian's  formula, 
which  occurs  in  this  epistle,  and  also,  with  theorder  of  the 
Dhrases  inverted,  in  Ep.  70  ad  Januarium. 
^  lOQ 


OP  THE  APOSTLES. 


to  describe  the  Spirit  of  the  third,  His  work, 
and  His  gifts  to  men.     The  result  is  that  what 
was  originally  1  +  1  +  1  became  1+7  +  4. 
Had  they  been  guided   solely  by   a  sense  of 
symmetry,  Hke  Harnack,  the  1  +  1  +  1  would 
have  issued  in  tetrads,  thus :  4  +  4  +  4.     As 
it  is,  the  ApostoHc  Symbol,  comprising  twelve 
articles,  which  the  German  Rationalist,  looking 
at  it  from  an  aesthetical  point  of  view,  finds  so 
unsymmetrical,  has  ever  edified  and  rilll  edifies 
.  Faith.     And   Faith   in  its  fulness  has  a  sym- 
metry of  its  own.     The  Author  and  Finisher 
of   it,  too,  who  is  the  Architect  of   this  our 
earthly  dweUing,   uses   Faith  as  enshrined  in 
the  Symbol  to  build  Himself  a  stately  mansion 
--"  a  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in 
the  heavens."     It  is  not  symmetry  of  form  but 
adaptabiUty  to  a  purpose  that  is  sought  in  an 
instrument. 

At  page  15  we  read  :  «  The  Greek  text  [of 
the  Old  Roman  Creed]  must  be  regarded  as  the 
original,  for  at  Rome  the  Symbol  was  for  a 
long  time  used  only  in  Greek.  It  was  not  un- 
til long  after  the  Greek  text  was  in  use  that 
the  Latin  text  was  adopted  as  a  parallel  form." 

101 


THE  SYMBOL 


il 


i 


According  to  Harnack  himself  the  Symbol  was 
the  Baptismal  Creed   o£  the   Roman  Church 
from  the  mi  idle  cf  the  second  century,  when 
he   supposes  it  was   drawn  up.     Now,  while 
large  numbers  of  the  converts  in  Rome  even  in 
the  days  of  St.  Paul  were  Greeks,  as  appears 
from   the   last   chapter   of  his  Epistle  to  the 
Bornans  ;  and  while  Greek  was  largely  used 
by  the  lettered  among  the  Christians  in  the 
first  centuries,  as  is  shown  by  inscriptions  found 
in  the   Roman  Ca'jacombs ;   the  fact  remains 
that  the  language  of  the  Roman  people   was 
never   any   other   than  the   Latin,^   and  that 
many,  not  to  eay  the  greater  number,  of  the 
candidates  for   baptism    were  unlettered,  and 
spoke  no  other  tongue  than  the  Latin.    There- 
fore the  Roman  Church   must  haN^e  used  the 
Symbol  in  Latin  from  the  first.    And  the  Latin 
form  must  have  existed  from  the  first  side  by 
side  with  the  Greek  form.     Harnack,  in  this 
case,  ignores  the  fact  that  the  Symbol,  was  not 
given  from  the  first,  nor  transmitted,  in  writing. 
And  he  forgets  that  the  catechetical  and  con- 

•  Cf.  Cursus  Scripturae  Sacrae,  Auctoribus  R.  Comely, 
S.J.,  et  al.,  (Editio  altera),  vol.  I,  p.  3«3. 

102 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

fessional   use   of   the    Symbol    antedates   the 
liturgical. 


Original 

Text  of  the 

Old  Roman 

Creed. 


III. 

Is  it  quite  certain  that  even  the 
Greek  text  of  the  Roman  Symbol 
existed   before  the   Latin?  that 
the   Roman  Symbol,  when  first 
committed  to  writing,  was  written  in  Greek  ? 
It  is  not;   it  is  a  probable  or  plausible  con- 
jecture;  perhaps   not   even   that.     The   text 
of   the    Symbol    of    Marcellus    of    Ancyra, 
which   Harnack   points    to    in   proof   of    his 
statement,  cannot  be  accepted   as  proof,  for 
two  reasons.     The  first   is  that  the   original 
text   of    the  Symbol    of   Marcellus   has'' not 
come   down   to   us.     That   which    has    come 
down   to   us   is   found   in  the  pages  of  Epi- 
phanius,*  who  wrote  in  Greek,  and  of  course 
would  cite  the  Symbol  in  Greek.     It  is  more 
than  likely  that  Marcellus,  had  he  written  his 
Confession  of  Faith  to  Pope  Julius  from  An- 
cyra, would  have  done  so  in  Greek.     But  he 

*  Adv.  Haer.,  lib.  3,  Haer.  73  (Migne,  P.  G.,  torn.  42). 

103 


I  sT 


!  '    I 


^     < 


i' 


"■{"■■ 


THE  SYMBOL 

wrote  in  Rome,  after  a  stay  in  that  city,  as  he 
tells  us  himself,^  of  one  year  and  three  months 
— quite  long  enough  to  enable  him  to  present 
his  Confession  of  Faith  in  the  language  of  the 
Latin  Church,  if  he  were  so  minded. 

But  there  is  another  and  more  cogent 
reason  why  we  cannot  take  the  text  of  this 
Symbol  of  Marcellus,  which  would  be  the  ear- 
liest known,  as  proof  that  the  Greek  text  of  the 
Roman  Symbol  was  the  original  one.  '^  tie 
Symbol  of  Marcellus  is  not  the  Roman  Symbol 
at  all.  How  is  this  shown  ?  It  is  shown  by  the 
testimony  of  Marcellus  himself,  who  declares  dis- 
tinctly in  his  Letter  to  Julias  that  he  got  his  Sym- 
bol from  his  forefathers  in  the  faith  ;  ^  hence 
not  in  Rome,  nor  in  the  West,  but  in  Asia. 
And  the  Symbol  itself  witnesses  to  the  truth  of 
his  testimony,  for  it  ends  with  the  words  "  C'^^jy 
aiuiviov^''*  -which  were  not  part  of  the  Roman 
Symbol  for  many  a  long  day  after  the  time  of 
Marcellus,  but  are  found,  in  terms  or  equiva- 
lently,  in  the  earliest  Eastern  Symbols.  There 
still  xcmains  the  text  cited  in  the  Psalter  turn 

*  Migne,  P.  L.,  torn.  8,  col.  916. 
«  Ibid. 

104 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


Athelstani.  But  the  MS.  of  the  Cod.  Law 
diams,  which  embodies  the  Latin  text,  is 
earlier  by  well-nigh  three  centuries  than  that 
of  the  so-cj  Ued  Psalter  of  iEthelstan.' 

At  page  80,   Harnack  says:    "That   the 
Roman  Church  after  the  sixth  century  gradually 
let  itself  be  separated  from  and  finally  robbed 
of  the  symbol  which  it  had  previously  guarded 
so  faithfully,  is  a  striking  phenomenon  which 
has  not  yet  had  its  causes  clearly  explained." 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Roman  Church  never 
for  one  day  let  itself   be   separated  from  its 
Symbol,  and  never  was  robbed  of  it.     What, 
then,  happened  ?      This    is    what    happened. 
From  about  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century 
and  for  a  period  of  some  two  or  three  hundred 
years,    the    Nicene-Constantinopolitan    Creed 
took  the  place  of  the  Old  Roman  in  the  Tra- 
ditio  and  Hedditio  Symholi.     This  was  owing 
to  the  spread  of  Arianisia  in  the  West.     But 
the  Roman  Creed  still  remained  in  use  in  the 
baptismal  interrogation,  in  the  baptism  of  in- 
fants, as  Burn  shows  at  page  232  of  the  work 


»  C£.  Burn,  An  Introduction  to  the  Creeds,  p.  199. 

105 


!    I 


THE  SYMBOL 

already  referred  to,  in  the  recitation  of  the 
Divine  Office,  and  in  private  worship.  When 
the  shorter  Symbol  becomes  once  more  the 
Baptismal  Creed  given  to  catechumens  in  the 
Roman  Church,  it  is  found  to  be  no  longer 
the  Old  Roman  but  the  New  Roman,  or,  as 
some  prefer  to  regard  it,  the  Gallican  Symbol, 
which  is  identical  with  the  Apostles'  Creed  of 
to-day. 

IV. 


Measuring 
Creeds  with 
A  Tape  Line. 


If  we  are  to  measure  Creeds 
with  a  tape  line ;  if  we  are  to 
distinguish  cue  from  another  by 
the  lesser  or  greater  number  of  words  they 
contain,  Harnack  is,  to  a  certain  extent,  right. 
But  if  the  true  way  to  measure  Creeds  is  by 
their  meaning,  by  the  articles  of  Faith  which 
they  embody,  then  Harnack  is  wrong,  ridicu- 
lously wrong.  The  twelve  articles  of  the  Rule 
of  Faith  need  not  be  of  exactly  the  same  length, 
like  the  twelve  inches  that  make  up  the  car- 
penter's rule.  Faith  is  not  reckoned  in  feet 
and  inches.  The  second  article  of  the  Nicene 
Creed  contains  almost  as  many  words  as  the 

106 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

twelve  articles  of  the  Old  Roman  Creed. ^  But 
the  Fathers  of  Nice  could  have  said  with  truth 
that  the  second  article  as  expounded  by  them 
was  no  longer  than  before.  Exposition  sets 
forth  more  clearly  and  defines  more  accurately 
the  meaning  of  a  statement,  but  does  not  alter 
it,  nor  add  one  iota  to  it.  The  best  way  to 
show  how  lack  of  perspective  has  led  Harnack 
astray  here  is  to  place  side  by  side  the  Old 
Roman  Creed  and  the  Apostles'  Creed  as  we 
have  it  to-day.  The  additions  to  the  former, 
which  are  in  ever}  case  but  an  explicit  setting 
forth  of  what  was  implicit,  are  put  in  italics. 


Old  Romax  Creed. 


Apostles'  Creed. 


(1)  I  believe  in  God  the  (1)  I  believe  in  God  the 
Father  Almighty  ;                      Father    Almighty,    Creator 

of  heaven  and  earth ; 

(2)  And  in  Christ  Jesus,  (2)  And  in  Jesus  Christ, 
His  only  Son,  our  Lord,             His  only  Son,  our  Lord, 


(3)  Born    of     the    Holy 
Ghost  and  the  Virgin  Mary, 


(3)  Who  was  conceived 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  boru  of 
the  Virgin  Mary, 


»  The  Creed  contains  57  words,  the  article  54,  by  actual 
count. 

107 


THE  SYMBOL 


1    i 


Apostles'  Creed. 

(4)  Sufferednnder  Pontius 
Pilate,  was  crucified,  d?>d, 
and  was  buried.  He  de- 
scended into  hell ; 

(5)  The  third  day  He  rose 
again  from  the  dead ; 

(6)  Ascended  into  heaven, 

(7)  Sitteth  at  the  right 
hand  of  God  the  Father  Al- 
mighty, 

(8)  whence  he  shall  come 
to  judge  the  living  and  the 
dead. 

(9)  J  believe  in  the  Holy 
Ghost, 

(10)  the  holy  Catholic 
Church,  the  comi  union  of 
saints, 

(11)  tlip  remission  of  sins, 

(12)  the  resurrection  of 
tbo  body,  and  the  life  ever- 
lasting. 

It  may  be  remarked,  in  passing,  that  this 
division  of  the  Creed  into  articles,  being  that 
of  the  Old  Rompn  Creed,  should  be  regarded 
as  the  true  one,  although  it  is  not  the  one 
generally  given  by  theologians.  The  words 
added  to  the  first  article  are  clearly  implied  in 

108 


Old  Roman  Creed. 
(4)  Crucified  under  Pon- 
tius Pilate,  and  buried ; 


(5)  Rose  again  the  third 
day  from  the  dead  ; 

(6)  Ascended  into  heaven, 

(7)  Sitteth  at  the  right 
hand  of  the  Father, 

(8)  whence  'ae  shall  come 
to  judge  the  living  and  the 
dead. 

(9)  And  in  the  Holy  Ghost, 

(10)  the  holy  Church, 

(11)  the  remission  of  s.  as, 

(12)  the  resurrection  of 
the  flesh. 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

;* Almighty";    "born"   of  the  third  article 
implies    "conceived";    "crucified"    of    the 
fourth,   "suffered"   and    "died";    "buried," 
the  descent  into  "  hell,"  seeing  that  the  soul 
as  well  as  the  body  is  to  be  assigned  its  locus. 
"God  Almighty"  of  the  seventh  article  serves 
but  to  identify  the  Father  at  whose  right  hand 
Christ  sitteth,  with  tlie  "  Father  "  of  the  first 
article.     Expounding  the  tenth  article,  which 
affirmed   "the  holy  Ohurch "  merely   in   the 
Africa!       eed  of  his  day,  St.  Augustine  adds, 
"  Catholi    of  course."  ^     And  elsewhere,  in  his 
'ixposition  ^f  this  same  article,  he  declares  that 
"  Church  "   is   to   be    understood   here,  "  not 
only  of  that  which  holds  its  pilgrim  way  on 
earth,"  but  also  of  "  that  which  in  heaven  ever 
cleaves  to  God."'"     The  words  "communion 
of  saints  "  have  thus  been  inserted  to  indicfite 
that  the  "Church  "  signifies    the  Kingdom  of 
God  in  its  widest  sense.     Finally,  the  adjunct 
"life  everlasting"  defines  the  true  meaning  of 
"  the  resurrection,"  which  is  not  a  resurrection 


if 

I  18 


'  I.J ' 


0  De  Fide  et  Symbolo,  c.  10  (Migne,  torn.  40,  col.  195). 
^^  Enchiridion,  c.  56  (lb.,  col.  858). 

109 


I 


THE  SYMBOL 

unto  a  mortal  life,  but  a  resurrection  unto  a 
life  without  end. 

All  this  is  very  plain  and  simple  to  one  who 
sees  with  the  eyes  of  Faith.  But  Harnack's 
eyes  were  holden ;  he  could  not  see  it.  And 
so,  having  no  rule  but  the  tape  Une  to  measure 
Creeds  withal,  he  has  committed  himself  to  the 
unhistorlcal  and  astonishing  statement  that  the 
Roman  Church  actually  allowed  herself  to  be 
robbed  of  her  ancient  Symbol.  He  marvels 
much  how  she  could  have  done  so,  and  seeks 
a  solution  of  what  is  to  him  a  puzzling  prob- 
lem.    A  Catholic  child  could  easily  have  solved 

it  for  him. 

There  are  other  instances  of  inaccurate,  mis- 
leading, and  false  statements  in  this  little  work 
of  Haniack's,  but  the  foregoing  will  be  enough 
to  shoNV  how  unsafe  a  guide  he  is  in  tracnig 
the  Symbol  to  its  origin." 

u  There  in  one  statement  more,  in  a  footnote  at  page  11, 
which  must  not  go  unehHllengecl.  In  reforenoe  to  the 
legend  that  each  of  the  twelve  Apostles  contnbnted  an 
article  to  the  Creed,  he  observes  :  •'  The  Ronuvn  Catech  sm 
hal  nevertheless  retained  it."  The  Reman  Catechuin  has 
done  nothing  of  the  kind.  Tlve  compilers  give  as  an  alter- 
uZe  explanation  of  the  nanie  Symbol  havmg  been  be- 

110 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


I 


V. 

It  is  now  time  to  say  a  word    i  Harnack's 
about  Harnack's  own  theory  o£    •  the  Origin 
the  origin  of  the  Symbol,  and  to    j?.'^.Tf!F.!:^?.?^?: 
deal  with    his  attempt  to   prove 
that  the  Rule   of  Truth  cited  by  Irenaeus  was 
neither  a  Baptismal  Cteed  nor  identical  with 
TertuUian's  Rule  of  Faith.     Briefly,  his  theory 
is  that  the  Old  Roman  Symbol  was  composed  in 


stowed,  as  they  take  it,  by  the  Apostles,  that  it  was  com- 
posed (conflata)  of  the  combined  sentiments  of  all  (ex 
variis  sententiis  quas  singuli  in  unum  contulerunt),  the 
other  explanation  being  that  it  was  to  be  a  "  tesseia  "  or 
badge  of  the  Christian  Faith.  Rufinus  uses  words  which 
convey  the  same  meaning  as  those  of  the  Catechism  in 
relating,  not  simply  how  the  Symbol  came  by  its  name, 
but  how  it  was  composed  by  tlie  Twelve — "in  unum  con- 
ferendo  quod  sentiebant  unusquisque."  In  fact  the  com- 
pilers of  the  Catechism  are  but  citing  once  more  the  ancient 
tradition  given  by  Rufinus  as  to  tlie  origin  of  the  Symbol. 
And  they  do  not  commit  themselves  so  definitely  as  he 
does  to  the  statement  tliat  eacliof  the  twelve  Apostles  liad 
a  hand  in  the  composition  of  it.  They  sim|)ly  say  tliat  tlie 
Apostles  "  drew  out  distinctly  the  most  iinportant  points 
of  the  Christian  Faith  in  the  twelve  articles  of  the  Creed." 
And  yet  Hurnack  himself,  at  page  18,  tells  v^  that  Rufinus 
"  knows  nothing  about  "the  legend;  "all  tliat  he  knows 
was  the  common  composition  of  the  Roman  symbol  by  the 
Apostles  soon  after  Pentecost  and  before  the  separation." 

Ill 


THE  SYMBOL 


Borne  about  the  middle  of  the  second  century, 
and  that  it  was  not  till  the  early  part  of  the 
fourth  century,  when  the  Churches  of  the  East, 
as  he  supposes,  first  came  to  know  and  value 
the  Koman  Symbol,  that  the  formation  of  sym- 
bols began  in  the  East.  Before  that  time,  the 
East,  he  maintains,  had  indeed  an  "  old,  flex- 
ible, christological  rule,"  also  "  ceremonial  or 
polemical  form  u1  is  of  belief  in  One  God  the 
Creator,  and  His  Only  Son  Christ,"  but  no 
"  established  baptismal  confession  of  faith."  " 
Now,  this  theory  is  simply  pulverized  by  the 
testimony  of  Irenaeus,  if  it  be  but  fairly  inter- 
preted. Hence  Harnack's  attempt,  by  all  the 
plausible  arts  of  which  he  is  master,  to  turn  the 
edge  of  this  testimony  and  save  his  theory  from 
destruction.  How  does  he  set  about  doing 
this  ?  He  starts  with  the  assumption  that  no 
fixed  baptismal  Confession  of  Faith  existed  in 
the  East  in  the  time  of  Irenaeus.  This  he 
bases  on  the  fact  that  none  but  fragmentary 
formulas,  of  a  flexible  character,  are  to  be 
found  in  jhe  early  Christian  writings  of  the 
East. 

u  Op.  cit.,  p.  48. 

113 


Affainst  this  we  set  the  words  of  Ire- 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


it 


naeus  that  "  the  real  Church  hath  one  and  the 
same  Faith  throughout  the  world,"'^  and  that, 
while  the  languages  of  the  world  differ,  "  the 
tenor  of  the  Tradition  is  one  and  the  same."'* 
Where  Faith  is  one  and  Baptism  one  there  is 
but  one  Baptismal  Creed.  Why,  then,  those 
varied  and  fragmentat^  creeds?  "  For  this 
reason,"  says  the  Anglican  Blunt,  "  the  creeds 
never  occur  .  an  unbroken  form  in  the  first 
centuries.  They  were  committed  to  memory 
by  the  faithful,  but  never  to  writing,  that 
heresy  might  not  learn  to  simulate  the  faith."'^ 
It  would  seem  that  the  DiscAplhia  Arcani  still 
withholds  its  secrets  from  Harnack.  Nor  does 
he  appear  to  realize  that  one  and  th6  same  for- 
mulary may  serve  now  a  catechetical  or  con- 
fessional purpose,  now  a  liturgical ;  be  used 
at  one  time  as  a  token  of  membership  and  com- 
munion, at  another  as  a  test  of  orthodoxy.  It 
is  this  last  use  of  the  Symbol  of  the  true  Faith 


»  Adv.  Haer.,  Bk.  i,  o.  10,  n.  3. 

"  Ibid.,  n,  2. 

**  Blunt's   Theological  Dictionary,   edited  by   the  Rev. 
John  Henry  Blunt.     Art.  "  Creeds."  As  to  the  reason  here 
assigned  see  Introduction,  pp.  17-23. 
8  113 


I>  ■ 


THE  SYMBOL 

that  is  brought  prominently  into  view  in  the 
East  during  the  second,  third,  and  fourth 
centuries.  As  new  forms  of  heresy  arose, 
new  adaptations  of  the  one  and  unchangeable 
Creed  of  the  Church  were  devised  to  meet  them, 
and  we-  find  St.  Hilary  bitterly  bewailing  this 
multiplication  of  "  faiths  "  in  his  day. 


VI. 


Iren^us 
Miscon- 
strued. 


The  famous  German  scholar 
and  critic  constructs  a  "confes- 
sional formula"  out  of  frag- 
ments gathered  from  four  or  five  different 
sources ;  and,  as  he  was  "  enabled  to  make 
a  similar  conjecture  in  Justin's  case,  so  it  is 
probable  that  not  only  in  Ivenseus'  time  but 
also  in  Justin's  "  the  formula  so  constructed 
"existed  in  the  East."  Now,  this  formula, 
fashioned,  be  it  remembered,  though  out  of  pre- 
existing material,  by  Harnack  himself,  "  Irenaeus 
made  the  foundation  of  his  ^^'^"''^  rf;?  riA,<;££«s," 
or  Rule  of  Trutli.  But  it  is  probable  that 
Irenaeus  had  to  incorporate  in  his  Canon,  be- 
fore it  reached  its  final  completion,  an  "  his- 

114 


OP  THE  APOSTLES. 


w 
m 


torico-christological  formula  of  confession  con- 
taining the  sentences  about  the  birth,  suffering 
under  Pontius  Pilate,"  etc.,  becau3e  this  latter 
formula  "is  perhaps,  or  even  probably,  to  be 
distinguished "  from  the  one  that  was  made 
the  foundation  of  the  Rule  of  Truth.  '^ 

This  bit  of  scientific  guesswork  is  interest- 
ing, if  not,  very  instructive.  But  what  does 
Ilarnack  ttike  Irenseus  for?  Does  he  take  him 
for  a  fool  that  he  should  make  him  try  to  re- 
fute the  heresies  of  his  day  by  the  help  of  so 
crazy  a  piece  of  furniture  as  this  patched-up 
formulary  ?  And  where  is  there  room  for  con- 
jecture when  Irenaeus  himself  still  lives  in  his 
works,  and  is  able  to  speak  for  himself  ?  It  is  so 
far  from  being  true  that  there  is  anything  in  the 
writings  of  Irenaeus  to  show  "  that  he  is  com- 
piling"  his  Canon  "independently  out  of  a 
large  number  of  fixed  confessional  formulas 
of  the  Church,"  '^  that  the  very  reverse  is  the 
case.  Irenseus  never  cites  this  Rule  of  Trutli, 
never  appeals  to  this  Rule  of  Truth  but  as  to 
a  something   objective,  a  something  quite  in- 


w  Op.  cit.,  pp.  G3-64. 
"  lb. 


115 


THE  SYMBOL 


dependent  both  of  himseK  and  of  those  he 
is  addressing,  a  something  that  existed  in  the 
Church  throughout  the  world  from  the  first, 
a  something  that  was  always  and  everywhere 
the  same,  a  something,  in  fine,  that  had  the 
authority  of  Apostolic  institution.  He  declares 
that  the  Rule  of  Truth  is  bestowed  "  by  Bap- 
tism "  on  every  Christian,  for  Baptism  alone 
gives  a  right  to  the  Symbol.  The  description 
that  he  gives  of  it  tallies  with  that  which  Ter- 
tullian  gives  of  the  Rule  of  Faith  which  the 
African  Church  followed.  He  tells  us  that  the 
Churches  throughout  all  the  world  followed 
this  same  Rule  of  Truth,"  '^  and  TertuUian  in 
Africa  tells  us  the  same  thing.  He  distin- 
guishes it  from  "  the  preacliing  of  the  Apostles, 
and  the  teaching  of  the  Lord,"  as  "  that  which 
is  put  into  our  mouths  by  the  Apostles."  '' 
He  testifies  that  Polycarp  "received  from  the 
Apostles  that  one  and  only  truth,  which  hath 
been  handed  on  by  the  Church,"  and  that  this 
"  Tradition  which  "  the  Apostles  "  delivered  to 
those  whom  they  entrusted  with  the  Churches  " 

w  Adv.  Haer.,  Bk.  1,  c.  10,  n.  1. 
»  lb.,  Bk.  2,  c.  35,  n.  4. 

116 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


is  the  "  Rule  "  to  which  «  consent  many  nations 
of  the  barbarians,"  who  receive  it  "without 
letters,"  and  who,  "i£  one  should  tell  them 
of  the  inventions  of  the  heretics,"  would  "  by 
that  old  Tradition  Apostolic  .  .  .  admit  not 
even  to  a  passing  glance  of  the  mind  any  of 
their  monstrous  sayings."  -  Lastly,  he  appeals 
to  the  "  Tradition  "  of  the  Roman  Church, 
"which  it  hath  from  the  Apostles,"  "which 
Tradition  proclaims  One  God  Almighty,  Maker 
of  Heaven  and  Earth." '' 

If  this  Rule  of  Truth,  the  same  in  all 
Churches,  W3s  bestowed  by  Baptism,  what  be- 
comes of  Harnack's  assumption  that  there  Avas  no 
"  established  baptismal  confession  of  faith  "  in 
the  East  during  the  second  and  third  centuries  ? 
Irenaeus  himself  lived  in  the  East,  came  from 
the  East,  and  ought  to  know  better.  As  for 
the  word  "canon,"  if  it  does  not  mean  an 
"established"  rule,  one  would  like  to  know 
what  it  does  mean.  Again,  if  the  "Rule "  of 
Irenaeus  was  an  "  Old  Tradition  Apostolic," 
could  it  have  been  also  drawn  up  by  himself? 


»  Ib.,Bk.  3,  c.  4,  IX.  2. 
^  lb.,  c.  3,  n.  3. 


117 


< 
[ 


THE  SYMBOL 


Finally,  if  this  Rule  existed  in  Rome,  too,  and 
in  Africa,  what  else  could  it  be  but  the  Symbol 
of  the  Roman  Church  and  TertulUan's  Rule  of 
Faith? 


Tertullian 
NOT  Duly 
Weighed. 


VII. 

Let  us  leave  Gaul  and  cross 
into   Africa.     Harnack  tells   us 
that   he    has     "traced   the    old 
Roman  symbol  to  the  time   of  Tertullian." " 
We  shall  help  him  to  trace  it  a  good  bit  farther. 
And  Tertullian  is  the  very  man  who  will  enable 
us   to  do   so.     Where  did  Tertullian  get  his 
Rule  of  Faith?      That  sturdy   champion  of 
Christianity  does  not  leave  us  one  instant  in 
doubt  as  to  where  he  got  it.     He  got  it  from 
the  Church,  the  Church  got  it  from  the  Apos- 
tles, the  Apostles  from  Christ,  Christ  from  God.^^ 
At  any  rate  this  is  what  he  tells  us;  and  we 
seem  to  catch  a  hint  of  what  is  passing  in  his 
mind  from  those  words  in  Matthew  where  our 
Lord  tells  His  Apostles  that "  all  power  is  given  " 
Him  "  in  heaven  and  on  earth,"  and  where,  in 

22  Op.  cit.,  p.  70. 

28  De  Praescript,  c.  37  (Migne,  torn.  2,  col.  50). 

118 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


.iu 


virtue  of  that  power,  He  bids  them  go  forth  to 
teach  and  baptize  all  nations.     AVe  understand 
Tertullian  to  mean  that  the  Apostles  got  the 
Rule  of  Faith  from  Christ,  in  the  sense   that 
they  got  from  Christ  the  Faith  itself  and  the 
authority  to  formulate  such  points  of  it  as  they 
deemed  needful  to  grave  "  on  the  fleshly  tab- 
lets "  of  the  hearts  of  those  who  were  first  to 
"believe"  before  they  could  be  "baptized." 
If  one  thing  more  than  another  is  clear  from 
the  writings  of  Tertullian,  it  is  that  there  did 
not  dwell  in  his  mind  the  shadow  of  a  shade 
of  doubt  that  the  Apostles  themselves  drew  up 
the  Rule  of  Faith.     He  regards  it  as  "  incredi- 
ble "  that  they  should  not  "  have  set  forth  to 
all  every  clause  of  the  Rule  in  order  (omnem 
ordinem  regulae)."  '*     He  points  out  how  im- 
possible it  would  be  for  "  so  many  and  so  great 
Churches  to  stray  into  the  one  Faith,"  and 
that  what  is  "  one  among  many  comes  not  by 
hap,   but  by  tradition." '^     Hq  declares    that 
"  this  Rule  was  in  use  from  the  beginning  of 
the  Gospel,  even  before  the  earliest  heresies." 


26 


•'■■       .,  c.  27. 

^  Adv.  Prax.,  c.  8. 


2fi  lb.,  c.  28. 


119 


THE  SYMBOL 


VIII. 


Ij 


I 


•♦  CONTESSER 
ARIT." 


But  Harnack's  own  words 
shall  serve  to  show  how  Tertul- 
lian  witnesses  to  the  Apostolic  authorship 
of  the  Symbol.  He  tells  us  (p.  70)  that  it 
"  is  this  [the  Roman]  symbol  he  [TertuUian] 
means  when  he  writes  de  praescr.  haer. 
36;"  and  cites  in  part  the  following 
passage : 

"  But  if  thou  art  near  to  Italy,  thou  hast 
Rome,  whence  we  also  have  an  authority  at 
hand.  That  Church  how  happy,  into  which 
the  Apostles  poured  all  their  doctrine  with 
their  blood ;  where  Peter  has  a  like  passion 
with  the  Lord ;  where  Paul  is  crowned  with 
an  end  like  the  Baptist's ;  where  the  Apostle 
John,  after  he  is  plunged  into  boiling  oil,  and 
has  suffered  nothing,  is  banished  to  an  island. 
Let  us  see  what  she  learned,  what  she  taught, 
when  she  gave  the  Symbol  also  to  the  Churches 
of  Africa.  She  confesses  one  God,  the  Creator 
of  the  universe,  and  Christ  Jesus,  the  Son  of 
God  the  Creator,  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary, 
and  the  resurrection  of  the  flesh." 

It  is  of  these  last  words  that  Harnack  says  : 
"  This  is  the  symbol  that  he  means."     Just  so. 

130 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

Rut  Tertullian  te^jtifies  that   the   Church   of 
Rome  got  this  Symbol  from  the  Apostles,  and 
gave  it  to  the  Churches  of  Africa,  i.e.,  of  pro- 
consular Africa  and  the  parts  adjacent.     This 
is  "  what  she  learned  "  '^  from  Peter  and  Paul, 
her  first  teachers  in  the  Faith,  and  this  is  "  what 
she  taught,  when  she  admitted  thu  Africans 
also  into  fellowship  in  that  Faith  by  delivering 
to   them   its   Symbol."  ^^     Tertullian  answers 
his  own  question,  and  he  answers  it  by  citing 
the  "tessera"  cr  Symbol  of  the  Faith.     The 
words  of  the  text  are,  "  cum  Africanis  quoque 
ecclesiis  contesserarit."     This  "  contesserarit," 
a  word  coined  by  Tertullian   himself,  wherein 
to   hide   his   Symbol,  seems   to  have   puzzled 
editors   and   translators   aUke.     Some   of  the 
editors  have  changed   it  into  "  contestatur," 
which  is  never  found  with  a  dative,  which  as  a 
present  tense  would  not  follow  an  aorist,  and 
which  gives  no  meaning;  others  into  "  con- 
tesseratur,"  which  is  from  the  right  verb,  but 

^  It  is  not  "  quae  "  but  "  quid,"  not  "  what  things  "  but 
•'  what  thing." 

*  Nothing  short  of  a  paraphrase  can  bring  out  the  full 
meaning  of  "  contesserarit." 


1^ 


i 


I 


t; 


THE  SYMBOL 

not  in  the  rifflit  mood  nor  tense.  The  trans- 
lator  of  this  passage,  in  The  Faith  of  Cath- 
olics, renders  it ;  "  Let  us  see  what  she  hath 
learned,  what  taught,  what  fellowship  she  hath 
had  with  the  Churches  of  Africa  likewise." 
But  "  didicerlt "  and  "  docuerit  "  are  aorists, 
not  present  perfect  tenses,  for  it  was  from  the 
Apostles  the  Roman  Church  "  learned  "  that 
Faith  which  she  afterwards  "  taught "  the 
Churches  of  Africa.  And  "cum  Africanis 
quoque  ecclesiis  contesserarit "  does  not  yield 
the  meaning  "  what  fellowship,  etc."  but  rather 
"  when  she  gave  the  symbol  of  fellowship  in 
Christ    to   the    African    Churches." ''      Her 

M  It  would  seem  that  the  translator  based  his  rendering 
on  the  reading  of  this  passage  given  by  Burn  at  page  49  of 
his  work.  "  Videamus,  quid  didicerit,  quid  docuerit,  quid 
cum  Africanis  quoque  ecclesiis  contesserauit"  This  I  take 
to  be  another  attempt  at  mending  a  text,  which  stood  in 
need  of  interpretation,  not  mending.  Of  course  there 
should  be  no  comma  after  "  Videamus  ; "  "  quid  "  is  the 
interrogative,  and  introduces  a  dependent  question.  Ob- 
viously, then,  "  contesseravit  "  is  a  mistake.  There  is  a 
parallelism  of  construction  in  the  "  quid  "clauses,  and  one 
needs  not  to  have  studied  the  classics  at  Eton  or  Oxford  to 
know  that  a  dependent  question  never  has  its  verb  in  the 
indicative.  But  perhaps  "  contesseravit  "  is  a  misprint. 
The  "  cum  "  of  this  reading  is  a  preposition  ;  the  "  cum  " 

123 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

Apostolic    Symbol   was   the   incorrupt    germ 
whence   the  virgin  Mother  Church  of  Rome 
begot  her  virgin  daughters  in  Africa  also.    And, 
to  vary  the  metaphor  with  the  varying  use  of 
the  Symbol,  this  was  the  signet  ring  she  put 
upon  their  fingers  on  the  day  she  clothed  them 
in  the  white  robes  of  their  Baptism— the  seal 
and  sure  token  of  their  birthright  in  God,  their 
espousals  in  Christ,  and  their  fellowship  in  the 
one  Faith.     The  word  «  tessera,"  from  which 
Tertullian  boldly  coined  the  verb  "contesse- 
rare  "  (not  the  first  nor  yet  the  last  sample  of 
liis  work  in  this  line),  means  "  symbol,"  and 
we  all  know,  or  ought  to  know,  that  the  symbol 
of  fellowship  among  the  early  Christians  was 
no  other  than  the  Apostolic  Symbol.     A  few 
chapters  back,  in  the  same  work,  Tertullian 
uses  the  expression,  «  contesseratio  hospitalita- 

of  Migne's  text,  a  conjunctive  adverb ;  but  between  tlie 
two  readings  there  is  no  essential  difference  of  meaning. 
Whether  "  Africanis  ecclesiis,"  in  Migne's,  is  a  dative  or 
an  ablative  we  can  only  conjecture.  The  privilege  of 
coming  a  new  verb  must  carry  with  it  the  privilege  of 
saymg  what  case  it  shall  govern— saeimnt  quantumvia 
gmmmatici.  (The  word  contesserauit  given  above  is  so 
printed  in  Burn's  book.  The  u  of  the  last  syllable  is  old 
Latin  spelling  for  v.) 

123 


t  ^ 


If- 


THE  SYMBOL 

tis  "  to  signify  how  the  Symbol  of  their  com- 
mon Faith  served  the  early  Christians  as  a  token 
whereby  they  could  recognize  and,  recognizing, 
give  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  and  hospi- 
tality to  their  pilgrim  brethren.  The  Symbol 
was  their  test  of  Church  membership,  by  means 
of  which,  as  the  Anglican  Blunt  well  expresses 
it  in  the  work  already  cited,  "  in  the  first 
troubled  years  of  the  Church,  Christians  pro- 
ceeding from  one  point  of  the  world  to  another 
were  at  once  known  and  received  into  unre- 
served communion  as  brethren  in  one  common 
Lord." 


IX. 


Conjectures. 


Readers  of  the  Breviary  will 
remember  that  in  the  Ofl&ce  of 
St.  Cecilia  we  are  told  how  the  Saint  sent 
Vespasian  for  baptism  to  Pope  Urban,  and 
how  "signo  quod  acceperat  invenit  sanctum 
Urbanum."  What  was  this  "sign"  if  not 
the  Baptismal  Symbol?  We  may  conjec- 
ture, also,  that  when  our  Blessed  Lord  likens 
the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  to  a  woman  who  takes 
a  little  leaven  and  hides  it  in  three  measures 

12-t 


■»n 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

of  meal,  till  the  whole  mass  is  leav  :ied  (Matt 
13:  33;  Luke  13  :  21),  Hehasth  •  Svmbol  ir 
His  mind's  eye.     The  woman  is  tij  Olnrch, 
and  the  leaven  is  the  Symbol  which  she  takes 
and  hides  away  for  a  space  in  the  multitude  of 
all  nations   and   tribes   and   tongues,  till  the 
whole   mass   is   leavened— till   the    power   of 
paganism  is  broken,  and  the  peoples  of  the 
earth  gather,  in  the  open  day,  around  the  stand- 
ard  of   the   Cross.     The    (Gospel    was    to   be 
preached  from  the  housetops   from  the  very 
first.     But  the  Symbol,  which  was  not  given 
openly   to   men,   nor   "written   with    ink  on 
paper,  but  graved  on  the  fleshly  tablets  of  the 
heart,"  was,  like  the  leaven  in  the  meal,  secretly 
doing  its  work  in  all  the  world. 

So  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  see,  the  only 
one  of  the  Fathers  who  notes  and  lays  stress  on 
the  use  of  "hid"  in  the  parable  of  the  leaven 
is  St.  Clement  of  Alexandria,  who  lived  at  a 
time  and  in  a  place  where  the  Discipline  of  the 
Secret  seems  to  have  been  observed  with  more 
than  ordinary  strictness.  "  Now  even  also  by 
means  of  the  parable  of  the  leaven,"  he  ob- 
serves, "  does  our  Lord  signify  the  couceal- 

125 


•  :m 


THE  SYMBOL 


s    t- 


ment  (t^"  ^ruxpo4'iv'^^  for  He  says,  "  The  king- 
dom of  heaven  is  like  to  leaven^  which  a 
woman  took  and  hid  in  three  bushels  of  meal ^ 
until  the  whole  was  leavened." — Strom.,  1.  5, 
n.  12. 

We  have  next  to  see  what  answer  can  be 
made  to  those  who  say  that  the  tradition  of  the 
ApostoHc  authorship  of  the  Symbol  was  not 
only  unknown  in  the  East,  but  that  even  in  the 
West,  St.  Augustine,  so  far  from  adhering  to 
it,  says  expressly  that  the  very  words  which 
compose  the  Symbol  were  taken  from  the 
Scripture. 


i 


126 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


m 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ST.   AUGUSTIT^E   AND  THE   AUTHORSHIP  OF  THE 

SYMBOL. 


I. 


St.  Augus- 
tine AND  THE 
Ancient  Tra- 
dition. 


It  is  urged  that  St.  Augustine 
contradicts  the  ancient  tradition 
of  the   Apostolic   authorship  of 

the    Symbol'     The   passage   to        

which  appeal  is  made  occurs  in  a  i.  .  y  on  the 
Symbol,  and  runs  as  follows  :  «  The  words  you 
have  heard  are  scattered  here  and  there  in 
the  Sacred  Scriptures,  but  have  thence  been 
gathered  and  put  into  one  formula."  ^  Now 
the  tradition  has  it  that  the  Apostles  composed 
the  Symbol  on  the  eve  of  their  dispersion, 
which  took  place  before  the  books  of  the  New 

*  Dogma,  Oerarchia  e  Ciilto,  p.  .323 

"Verba  quae  audistis  per  divinas  Scripturas  sparsa  sunf 
jed  indecollectaet  ad  unum  redacta.  I^Symb.  aTcatech 
Migne,  torn.  40,  col.  627.  ^aiecn.. 

127 


f 

t 


i  f 


THE  SYMBOL 

Testament  were  written.     Hence  the  passage 
in  question  runs  counter  to  the  tradition. 

One  way  o£  meeting  this  difficulty,  undoubt- 
edly a  grave  difficulty  because  of  the  great 
authority  of  St.  Augustine,  would  be  to  make 
the  Saint  mean  by  Sacred  Scriptures  the  Old 
Testament  only.  But  this  would  be  rather  an 
evading  of  the  difficulty,  for  the  expression 
"  Sacred  Scriptures  "  includes  the  New  Testa- 
ment as  well  as  the  Old.  It  is  more  than 
doubtful,  too,  whether  all  the  words  of  the 
Symbol  are  to  be  found  in  the  Old  Testament. 
The  words  "  under  Pontius  Pilate,"  at  any  rate, 
are  not.     Happily  there  is  a  better  way. 

First  of  all,  let  us  see  what  St.  Augustine 
says  in  his  other  sermons  on  the  Symbol.  Two 
of  those  given  in  the  fifth  volume  of  Migne's 
edition  of  the  Saint's  works,  namely,  212  and 
214,  are  unquestionably  genuine.  In  both  of 
these  it  is  not  the  words  of  the  Symbol  but  the 
doctrine  which  St.  Angustiae  says  is  contained 
in  the  Scriptures.  Nor  does  he  say  or  in  any 
way  imply  that  the  doctrine  was  taken  from 
the  Scriptures  in  the  first  instance.  "  All  that 
you  are  about  to  hear  in  the  Symbol,"  he  tells 

1^8 


«W'' 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

his  catechumens,  "  is  contained  in  the  Scrip- 
tures."    And  again :  "  This,  then,  is  the  Sym- 
bol,  with  the  contents  of  which  you  have  been 
made  familiar  ah-eady  through  the  Scriptures 
and    the    preaching    of   the    Church."  3      He 
opens  his  mind  even  more  fully  in   the  other 
sermon. '^     "The   truths,"  he    there   tells   his 
heartrs,  «  which  you  are  about  to  receive  in  a 
compendious  form,  to  be  committed  to  memory 
ana  orally  professed,  are  not  new  to  you  nor 
unheard.     For  hi  the  Sacred  Scriptures  and  in 
sermons  you  have  been  wont  to  find  them  set 
forth  in  many  ways."     St.  Augustine  plainly 
does  not  mean  here  that  the  authors  of  the 
Symbol  picked  the  words  which  compose   it 
from   various    parts    of    the    Scriptures—an 
utterly  unlikely  tiling,  in  any  case.     Nor  does 
he  even  mean   that   they  actually   took   the 
truths    embodied   in   it   from   the   Scripture, 
where,  of  course,  they  are  to  be  found,  with 
many  other  truths  besides.     He  simply  means 
that  catechumens  could  learn   and    did  learn 
from  the  Scripture,  as  well  as  from  the  pieach- 

»Serm.  212  (Migne.  torn.  38,  col.  1058). 
*  Serm.  214  ad  inii.  (lb.  col.  1068). 
9  Vi") 


THE  SYMBOL 

ing  of  the  Church,  all  the  truths  contained  in 
the  Symbol,  long  before  the  Symbol  itself  was 
given  to  them. 


The  Homily 

TE  SYMBOLO 

AD  CaTECHU- 

MENOS. 


II. 

It  will  still  be  urged  that,  in 
the  homily  which  is  entitled  de 
Symholo  ad  Cafechimienos,  it 
is  declared  in  set  terms,  as  cited 
above,  that  the  very  words  of  the  Symbol 
were  taken  from  the  Scriptures.  Granted; 
but  it  is  only  so  much  the  worse  for  the  homily 
that  it  should  affirm  a  thing  so  improbable. 
That  homily  has  too  long  masqueraded  under 
the  great  name  of  Augustine.  The  proofs  of 
its  spuriousness  that  I  am  able  to  put  my  finger 
on  seem  to  me  at  least  overwhelming. 

To  begin  with,  the  homily  in  question  is 
tainted  in  its  source.  It  was  found  from  the 
first  in  bad  company,  so  to  say.  It  is  one  of 
four  which,  in  codices  dating  from  800  A.D., 
are  styled  Be  Symbolo  Llbri  Quatuor,  and 
attributed  to  Augustine.^     Three  of  these  are 


8  Migne,  loc.  cit. 


130 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

to-day  rejected  as  spurious  on  all  hands.     The 
fourth  is,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  suspect. 
Possidius  knew  only  of  three   s-ich  discourses 
on  the  Symbol  by  St.  Augustine,   which  he 
cites  as  "De  Symbolo,  tractatus  tres."  ^     Two 
of  these  are  readily  identified  as  the  sermons 
numbered  respectively  212  and  214,  already 
cited.     The  third,  whether  it  exists  among  the 
writings  of  St.  Augustine  that  liave  come  down 
to  us  or  not,  is  not  any  of  the  four  ad  Cate- 
chumenos.     It  remains  to  show    this   of   the 
only  one  of  them  which  is  p^enerally  admitted 
as  genuine,^  that   one,   namely,   which  comes 
first  in  order  in  Migne's  collection. 

In  a  footnote  at  page  59,  it  was  pointed 
out  that  the  author  of  this  homily  cites  "  in 
vitara  aeternam  "  as  part  of  the  Creed,  which 
St.  Augustine  never  does  in  any  of  the  writ- 
ings that  are  certainly  his.  Nor  did  these 
words  form  part  of  the  Creed  known  to  the 
contemporaries   of   Augustine    in   the    West, 

«Cf.  Migne's  Index  to  the  works  of  St.  Augustine,  col.  20. 
J  Pearson,  however,  in  his  volume  of  critical  notes  on 
the  Creed,  gives  the  reference  simply  as  "  auctor  homiliae 
de  Symbolo  ad  Gat^chumenos.  " 

131 


! 


i 


THE  SYMBOL 

Rufinus,  St.  Jerome,  and  St.  Ambrose,  if  the 
last-named  be  indeed  the  author  o£  the  Expla. 
natio  Symboli  ad  Imtiandos.    The  author  of 
the  homily  seems  to  have  borrowed  the  idea, 
if  not  the  very  words,  from  Sermon  40  of  St. 
John  Chrysostom,'  where  we  read :  "  And  as 
the  word  '  resurrection  '  is  not  enough  to  con- 
vey the  whole  truth  (for  many  who  rose  again 
died  again,  as  did  those  who  rose  again  under 
the  old  dispensation,  Lazarus,  and  those  who 
rose  when  Christ  died),  we  are  taught  to  say, 
And  in  the  life  eve^^lasting.'* 

At  page  2i3  of  his  work.  Burn  says :  "  The 
addition  vitam  aeterncm  had  been  in  use  in 
the  African  Church  since  the  third  century." 
He  means  that  it  had  been  in  use  as  part  of 
the  Symbol,  and  in  this  he  is   astray.     The 
African  Church  got  its  Symbol  from  the  Ro- 
man  and   kept   it   unchanged    till   after    St. 
Augustine's  time.     How  can  it  be  mamtanied 
that  St.  Augustine,  expounding  the  Symbol  to 
Africans  in  the  African  Church,  deUberately 
left  out  so  notable  a  part  as  this  would  be  of 
the  Faith  in  which  they  had  been  baptized  ? 


B  Jiiguu,  P.  Q;  torn.  61. 


133 


itL.    im. 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

Immediately  after  his  comment  on  « the  resur 
rection  of  the  flesh,"  in  De  Fide  et  Symholo, 
he  says  :  «  This  is  the  Faith  which  is  summed 
up  m  a  few  words  in  tlie  Symbol,  and  given  to 
neophytes  to  be  kept  by  them."     De  Fide  et 
Symholo,  as  the  Saint  himself  tells  us  (7^./r«c^. 
xyii)  was   originally  a   discourse   given    at   a 
Plenary  Council  of  the  African   Church,  and 
afterwards  put  in  writing.     The  theory  that 
Augustme  knew  of  two  Symbols,  one  learned 
from  Ambrose  at  Milan  when  he  was  bapt-'zed, 
another  which  he  found  in  possession  of  the 
African  Church,   breaks  down  completely  in 
face  of  the  fact  that  it  is  the  Symbol  of  Milan 
and  of  Rome  that  he  expounds  to  the  African 
^ishops  m  synod  assembled  and   irives  to  his 
African  neophytes.     The  only  prop  the  critics 
have  for  this  theory  (doubtful  or  spurious  ser- 
mons are  worse  than  valueless,  being   them- 
selves without  a  prop  or  in  need  of  one)  is  too 
frail  to  support  it.     They  find  the  vitam  aeter- 
namm  the  baptismal  interrogatory,  as  cited 
by   Cyprian.     But   Cyprian   got   his   Symbol 
trom   Tertulhan,    and  vitam  aeternam  is  no 
part  of  Tertullian's  Symbol,  which  is  the  Old 

133 


■I 


m 

■    i  1 


M 


li 


1^ 


m-\ 


THE  SYMBOL 

Koman  pure  and  simple.  The  presence  of 
vitam  aeternam  in  Cyprian's  formula  does  but 
show  that  what  is  obviously  implied  in  "  carnis 
resurrectionem"  of  the  Symbol  was  from  a 
very  early  time  expressed  in  the  interrogatory. 


Further 

Proofs  of  its 

Spurious- 

NESS. 


III. 

There  is  yet  more  cogent  proof 
that   the   homily  de    Symb.    ad 
Catech.  is  spuriou       In  the  Old 
Roman  Creed,  the  fourth  article 
runs:  "Crucified   under   Pontius  Pilate,  and 
buried."     So  we  find  it  cited,  not  only  by  St. 
Augustine,  bu^  in  the  works  of  contemporary 
and  even  later  writers  of  the  same  century,  such 
as  St.  Maximus  of  Turin,^  and  St.  Peter  Chrys- 
ologus.'°     Nay,  a  full  hundred  years  after  the 
time  of  St.  Augustine,  and  in  the  Church  of 
Africa,  St.  Fulgentius  knows  of  no  change  in 
the  fourth  article,  but  gives  it  as  it  stood  in 
St.  Augustine's  day."     On  the  other  hand,  the 

»  De  Trad.  Symb.,  Horn.  83  (Migne,  torn.  57,  col.  484). 
10  In  Symb.  Apost,  Sermon  57  (Migne,  torn.  52,  col.  359). 
«  Defens.  Symb.  contra  Arianos  (Migne,  torn.  65,  col. 

825). 

134 


H\ 


OF  THE  APOSTLES.  • 

author    of  the  homily  de  Symb.  ad  Catech. 
cites  the  fourth  article  just  as  we  have  it  to- 
day—«  Suffered    under    Pontius    Pilate,    was 
crucified,  died,  and  was  buried."     The  infer- 
ence  is  that  he  either  was  not  of  the  African 
Church  at  all,  or,  if  he  was,  that  the  homily 
was  not  composed  till  more  than  a  hundred 
years   after  the  death  of  St.   Augustine.     It 
may  seem  a  trifling  thing  to  add  that  the  form 
of  address  employed   by   the   author   of  the 
hoh  ily  is  never  once  used  in  a  single  one  of 
the  three   hundred   and   forty  sermons  to  be 
found  among  the  genuine  writings  of  St.  Au- 
gustine, nor  in  anv  one  of  the  thirty  and  three 
more  recently  u.      -/ered  and  published  as  his 
in  an  appendix  to  the  volume  which  contains 
the  indtx  to  his  works  in  Migne's  collection." 
With  St.  Augustine  it  is  "brethren,"  "dearly 
beloved    brethren,"   "  dearly  beloved,"  "  your 
charity,"  «  your  holiness."    Once  he  has,  "  sons 
of  light,  brothers  dearly  beloved,"  and  once  in 
the  course  of  a  sermon  ad  infantes,  as  the  neo- 
phytes were  called,  we  find  "  my  brothers,  my 

"  Of  course,  one  naturally  looks  for  it  in  the  opening 
paragraph.  pomug 

135 


'it 


THE  SYMBOL 


sons,  my  daughters,  my  sisters,"  but  this  is  not 
a  form  of  address.  The  author  of  the  homily, 
on  the  other  hand,  uses  "  sons  "  simply. 

Nor  are  there  wanting  other  tokens  of  the 
spurious  character  of  this  homily.  The  author 
borrows  freely  from  St.  Augustine,  copies  his 
style  pretty  closely,  essays  to  think  his  thoughts, 
but  these  are  sometimes  beyond  him.  It  is 
here  especially  that  he  betrays  the  'prentice 
hand.  He  lacks  Augustine's  mastery  of  his 
subject,  his  mental  grasp,  his  logical  exactness, 
his  sense  of  proportion.  To  give  one  instance 
of  the  man's  deficiency  in  this  last  particular, 
there  is  in  this  homily  on  the  Symbol  more 
than  a  column  and  a  half  of  a  digression  on 
the  patience  c  f  Job.  Speaking  of  God's  omnip- 
otence, he  s-iys:  "Facit  quidquid  bene  vult, 
quidquid  juste  vult ;  quidquid  autem  male  fit, 
non  vult."  Now,  this  is  not  exact.  It  should 
be:  "Facit  quidquid  vult,  et  quidquid  vult, 
bene  vult,  juste  vult."  The  second  part  of  the 
statement,  too,  needs  to  be  supplemented  by 
some  such  words  as,  "  eo  tamen  bene  uti 
novit."  "For  [St.  Augustine  himself  it  is 
who  says  it]  as  the  wicked  make  an  evil  use  of 

136 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

a  nature  which  is  good,  that  is,  God's  good 
work,  God,  being  good,  makes  a  good  use  even 
of  their  evil  doings,  so  that  His  Ahnighty  Will 
is   not   frustrated    in    aught." '3     Again    the 
author  of  the  homily  says  :  "  Deus  non   diniit- 
tit   peceata   nisi   baptizatis."     This   is    worse 
than  inexact;  it  is  untrue,  and  in   open  con- 
tradiction to  the  teaching  of  St.  Augustine, 
where  he  says  that  not   only    martyrdom  may 
supply  the  place  of  baptism,  but  also  "  faith 
and  sincere  repentance,  if  haply  time  be  want- 
ing to  administer  the  sacrament."  '^     Even  had 
he  said  «  Ecclesia "  instead  of   "  Deus,"    his 
statement  would  have  been  true  only  of  what 
the  Church  does  in  the  tribunal  of  penance. 
An    unbaptized   person  in   good    faith,  who 
should  have  only  attrition  for  his  sins,  would 
obtain  the  forgiveness  of  them  by  receiving 
Holy   Communion   from   the    hands    of    the 
Church. 

"  Serm.  214. 

"  De  Bapt.  contra  Donat,  lib.  4,  c.  23  (Migne,  torn.  43, 


137 


mmm:^ 


r*i 


THE  SYMBOL 


IV. 


A  Paradox 

AND  ITS  Elu 

CIDATION. 


It  is  in  his  treatment  of  the 
Divine  Omnipotence  and  its  rela- 
tion  to   things   impossible,   that 
the   deficiency  of  the  author  of  this  homily 
is  most  marked.     In  what  purports  to  be  an 
instruction  to  persons  who  were  novices  in  the 
deep  things  of  the  Faith,  he  sets  out,  the  very 
first  thing,  with  a  startling  paradox.     "  God  is 
almighty,"    he    says,   "and    because    He    is 
almighty,   He   cannot   die,  He  cannot  be  de- 
ceived, He  cannot  lie."     This  is  bad  enough, 
bewildering  as  it  must  have  been  to  the  cate- 
chumen.    The  reason  assigned  for  the  puzzling 
statement  is  worse  :  it  is  trivial,  not  to   say 
childish.     "  For,"  he  proceeds  to  enlighten  his 
hearers,  "  if  He  could  die.  He  would   not  be 
almighty ;  if  He  could  lie,  or  deceive,  or  be 
deceived,  or  deal  unjustly.  He  would  not  be 
almighty  ;  because  if  He  could  do  any  of  these 
things.   He    would   not   be   worthy   of  being 
almighty."     As  if  the  attribute  of  omnipotence 
were  a  gift  bestowed  upon  deserving  Deity  ! 
Contrast  with  this  imbecility  the  masterful  wj»y 

138 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


,i*'-l 


in  which  St.  Augustine  grapples  with  the  diffi- 
cult point  in  Sermon  214  on  the  Symbol.     He 
does  not  begin   with  a  paradox,  but  feels  his 
way  cautiously  along,  as  it  were.     He  points 
out  first  that  belief  in  the  omnipotence  of  God 
implies  belief  also  in  there  being  absolutely 
nothing  in  nature  which  He  did  not  create. 
After  developing  this  point  fully,  he  goes  on, 
in  the  next  paragraph,  to  show  that,  while  the 
wicked  do  many  things  against  God's  will,  this 
does  not  derogate  from  His  omnipo'ence,  nor 
defeat  His  purpose  in  the  long  run.     If  He 
were  not  able  to  make  the  wicked  serve  His 
good  and  just  ends.  He  would  not  have  suffered 
them  to  be  born  or  to  live ;  "  whom  He  did 
not  make  wicked,  since  He  made  them  men ; 
for,  not  the  sins,  which  are  against  nature,  but 
the  natures  themselves  He  made.     Prescient  of 
the  future.  He  could  not,  indeed,   but  know 
that  men  were  going  to  be  wicked.     As  He 
knew,  however,  the  evil  they  were  going  to  do, 
80  He  knew  the  good  that  He  was  going  to 
bring  out  of  this  evil."     He  instances  the  good 
that  God  wrought   for  mankind   out   of  the 
Vice  of  Satan,  of  the  Jews,  and  of  the  traitor 

139 


u.}^ 


THE  SYMBOL 

Judas.  Next  comes  a  paragraph  in  elucidation 
of  the  paradox  referred  to  above,  which  is  well 
worth  giving  word  for  word  : 

"  But,  as  I  have  said  that  the  only  thing  the 
Almighty  cannot  do  is  what  He  does  not  will  to 
do,  if  any  one  should  be  tempted   to   think 
me  rash  in  saying  that  there  is  anything  the 
Almighty  cannot  do,  let  him  call  to  mind  that 
the  blessed  Apostle  says  so  also.    If  we  believe 
not,  He  who  contlnneth  faithful  cannot  demj 
Himself  (2  Tim.  2 :  13).     But  it  is  \     luse  He 
will  not  that   He  cannot;  because  He   even 
cannot  will.     For  justice   cannot  will   to  do 
what  is  unjust,  nor  wisdom  will  to  do  what  is 
foolish,  nor  truth  will  what  is  false.     From  this 
we  gather  that  there  are  many  other  things, 
besides  this  that  the  Apostle  speaks  of.   He 
cannot  deny   Himself   which   the   Almighty 
cannot  do.     I  say  it  openly,  and  I  am  em- 
boldened by  His  truth  to  say  that  which  I  dare 
not  gainsay :  God  Almighty  cannot  die,  cannot 
change,   cannot    be    deceived,  cannot  but  be 
blessed,    cannot    be    overcome.      Perish   the 
thought  that  these  and  the  like  things  could  be 
predicated  of  Omnipotence  !     And  so  the  force 
of  truth  constrains  us  to  believe,  not  only  that 
God  w,  Almighty,  because  these  things  are  not 
true  of  Him,  but  that  He  would  not  at  all  be 

140 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

almighty,  if  they  were.  For,  whatever  God  is 
He  IS  as  wi  mg  to  be.  He  is  eternal,  there- 
tore,  as  willing  it ;  unchangeable,  veracious, 
blessed,  and  unconquerable,  as  having  a  will  to 

.^\.  ^^'  ,*^'^"'  ^®  ^«^1^  *>e  >^liat  He  does 
not  will  to  be.  He  would  not  be  almighty;  but 
He  is  almighty ;  therefore,  what  He  wills  to  be 
He  can  be.  And  therefore  what  He  wills  not, 
cannot  be,  being  called,  as  He  is,  the  Almighty 
because  He  can  do  all  that  He  wills.  Of  him 
the  psalmist  says  ;  All  things  whatsoever  He 

(Ps  104  6 r'     '^''''^  '"'*  ^'"*'''*  ""''^  ""''  ^""''^^ 

This   is   somewhat   subtle   reasoning.     We 
shaU  be  able  to  follow  it  more  easily  if  we  do 
but  keep  clearly  in  view  what  the  Saint  is 
aiming  to  show.     He  assumes  as  being  of  faith 
that  God  is  omnipotent,  eternal,  veracious,  and 
the  rest.     He  shows,  in  the  first  place,  that 
what  God  cannot  do  is  such  that  He  does  not 
and  cannot  will  to  do  it ;  for  God  is  justice, 
and  justice  cannot  will  to  do  what  is  unjust ; 
God  is  truth,  and  truth  cannot  will   what  is 
false.     He  sets  Himself  to  show,  in  the  second 
place,  that  so  far  as  God's  not  being  able  to  do 
what  He  does  not  will  to  do  from  being  deroga- 

141 


THE  SYMBOL 

tory  to  His  omnipotence,  that  if  it  were  pos- 
sible for  anything  to  be  without  His  willing  it, 
He  would  not  be  omnipotent  at  all.     He  points 
out  that  God's  will  is  really  one  with  His  other 
attributes,  and  with  His  essence.     As  His  will, 
then,  is  one  with   His  eternity,  with  His  un- 
changeableness,  with  His  truth,  He  must  needs 
will  to  be  eternal,  to  be  unchangeable,  to  be 
veracious.     Now,  t!  :•  very  idea  of  omnipotence 
includes  the  power  tc  be  and  do  whatever  one 
wills.      But,  as  God    must   needs  will  to  be 
eternal,  He  cannot  will  to  die  ;  and  as  He  must 
needs  will  to  be  veracious.  He  cannot  will  to 
deceive  or  to  lie.     If  He  oould  die,  then,  or 
deceive.  He  would  not  have  the  power  of  baing 
and  doing  whatever  He  willed,  and  would  not, 
therefore  be  omnipotent.      But  He  is  omnip- 
otent; therefore,  whatsoever  He  willeth  that 
He  is  and  that  He  doeth  in  heaven  and  on 

earth. 

All  this  may  look  like  a  digression  from  the 
main  topic  ;  but  really  it  is  not.  The  objec- 
tion founded  on  the  passage  in  the  homily  now 
shown  to  be  spurious,  lay  right  across  the  path 
of  the  tradition  which  traces  back  to  the  Apos- 

U2 


I 


f 


OP  THE  APOSTLES. 


ties  the  origin  of  the  Symbol.  The  only 
effective  means  of  getting  it  out  of  the  way 
was  to  blast  the  homily.  And  it  is  something 
to  have  cleared  the  way.  It  is  something  to 
have  got  from  a  great  authority,  who  is  repre- 
sented as  unfriendly,  free  leave  to  follow  our 
quest  up  to  the  very  gates  of  Jerusalem  and 
into  the  full  light  of  the  Apostolic  Day. 


V. 


The  Fallacy 
OF  Silence. 


It  may  still  be  said  that,  at 
any  rate,  St.  Augustine  does  not 
help  as  in  our  quest.  His  silence, 
too,  is  taken  to  indicate  that  he  knows 
nothing  of  the  tradition  of  the  Apostolic 
authorship  of  the  Symbol.  It  is  never  too  safe 
to  argue  from  the  silence  of  an  author.  Two 
of  the  contemporaries  of  Augustine,  them- 
selves volmninous  writers,  just  happen  to  men- 
tion the  tradition  once.  But  their  passing 
allusion  to  it  ranks  them  amonjj  our  most  im- 
portant  witnesses  to  its  existence.  Is  it  likely 
that  the  Jisciple  of  St.  Aml)rose  and  the  friend 
cf  St.  Jerome  could  have  been  in  ignorance  of 

li3 


THE  SYMBOL 


a  tradition  so  notable,  the  existence  of  which 
is  vouched  for  in  his  day  by  both  of  them  ? 
About  a  century  after  St.  Augustine's  time, 
and  in  the  African  Church,  we  find  St.  Ful- 
gentius  testifying  that  "the  Symbol  of  the 
Christian  Faith  was  .  .  .  drawn  up  by  the 
Apostles  in  accordance  with  the  rule  of  the 
Truth."  '5  This  famous  Bishop  of  Carthage 
lived  so  near  the  times  of  St.  Augustine,  and 
made  so  close  a  study  of  his  works,  that  he 
may  well  be  styled  his  disciple.  Again  we 
ask.  Is  it  likely  the  master  was  ignorant  of  the 
tradition  ? 

There  is  another  reason  why  it  is  unsafe  to 
argue  from  silence,  especially  in  the  case  of 
so  voluminous  a  writer  as  St.  Augustine.  It 
is  that  one  can  hardly  ever  be  quite  sure  of 
the  truth  of  one's  premise.  Who  can  say  that 
he  has  read  all  the  works  of  St.  Augrustine 
through,  and  noted  what  he  says  or  has  left 
unsaid  ?  Besides,  there  are  two  ways  in  which 
a  writer  may  witness  to  a  fact ;  explicitly,  and 
by  implication.     Now,  St.  Augustine  certainly 

"  In  Defena.  Symb.  adv.  Arianoa.    Migne,  torn.  65,  col. 
823. 

144 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

does  witness  at  least  in  the  latter  of  these  two 
ways  to  the  traditional  teaching  of  the  Church 
about  the  origin  of  the  Symbol.     In  his  con- 
troversy with   the   Donatists,   defending   the 
validity  of  baptism  conferred  by  heretics,  he 
says :  "This  custom  I  believe  as  coming  down 
by  tradition  from  the  Apostles.     So,  there  are 
many  things  not  found  in  their  writings,  nor 
in  the  canons  of  Councils  of  a  later  date,  which, 
because  they  are  observed  by   the   universal 
Church,  are   believed   to   have    derived   their 
origin  and   received   their   sanction  from   no 
other   than    the    Apostles."'*^      Again:    «A 
custom  which  the  men  even  of  that  day,  look- 
mg  farther  back,  did  not  find  to  have  been 
established  by  those  who  went  before  them,  is 
rightly  believed  to  have  originated  with  the 
Apostles."  '7     And  once  more,  in  the  form  of 
a  general  proposition ;  «  That  which  the  whole 
Church  holds,  and  which  has  not  been  instituted 
by   Councils,  but  has  been  always  held  fast, 
we  have  every  reason  to  regard  as  the  tra- 
il De  Bapt.  contra  Donat,  torn,  9.  lib.  2,  c.  7.  n.  12 
(Migne,  torn.  43,  col.  133). 
"  lb.,  lib.  4,  c.  6,  n.  9  (lb.,  col.  159). 
»o  145 


% 


THE  SYMBOL 


dition  of  the  Apostles."  "  But  the  whole 
Church  held  the  Baptismal  Creed  known  as 
the  Apostolic  Symbol  in  St.  Auj,ustine's  day  ; 
it  was  not  instituted  by  Councils,  but  had  been 
always  held  fast ;  therefore,  according  to  St. 
Augustine,  we  have  the  very  best  reason  to 
regard  it  as  having  been  handed  down  by  tra- 
dition from  the  Apostles. 


VI. 


An  Impor- 
tant Testi 

MONY. 


St.  Ausfustine's  belief  in  the 
Apostolic  origin  of  the  Symbol 
'  is  logically  and  necessarily  im- 
plied in  the  principle  he  lays  down  with  re- 
gard to  Apostolic  tradition.  But  we  have  in 
the  following  passage,  or  I  am  greatly  mis- 
taken, if  not  an  explicit  statement  of  his  belief, 
at  least  the  very  next  thing  to  it.  He  is  com- 
bating the  view  that  baptism  may  be  given 
ofEhand  to  anyone  who  makes  a  profession  of 
faith  in  the  Divine  Sonship  of  Christ,  such  as 
the  eunuch  baptized  by  Philip  made  (Acts  8  : 
35-38).  I  translate  with  almost  literal  ex- 
actness from  the  text  in  Migne : 

M  lb.,  c.  24  (lb.,  col.  174). 

146 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

"That  eunuch,  they  tell  us,  whom  Philip 
baptized,  said  no  more  than,  '  T  believe  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God ; '  and,  on  mak- 
ing  this  profession,  forthwith  received  baptism. 
Are  we,  then,  willing  that  men,  on  giving  this 
response  only,  should  incontinently  be  baptized  ? 
that  not  one  word  should  be  said  by  the  cate- 
chist,  nothing  professed  by  the  believer,  about 
the   Holy   Ghost,    the   holy  Church,   the   re- 
mission of  sins,  the  resurrection  of  the  dead, 
in  fine,  about  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  Himself 
except  that  He   is  the  Son   of   God;— not  a 
word   about  His  incarnation   in  the  Virgin's 
womb,  the  passion,  the   death   on  the  cross, 
the  burial,  the  resurrection  on  the  third  day, 
the  ascension,  and  the    session  on  the  right 
hand   of   the   Father?     For,  if   the   eunuch, 
when   he  had  made  answer,   <I  believe   that 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God,'  thought  this 
was  all  that  was  needed,  and  that  he  could  at 
once  be  baptized,  and  go  his  way,  why  do  we 
T*  **  u®  pattern  by  his  case,  and  dispense  with 
the  other  things  that   we  deem   necessary  to 
bring  out  by  questioning  and  get  an  answer  to 
from  the   candidate   for  baptism,  even  when 
time  presses  and  it  is  not  possible  for  him  to 
learn  them  by  heart  ?     But  if  the  Scripture  is 
silent,  and  leaves  these    other   things  which 
Philip  did  when  baptizing  the  eunuch  to  be 

147 


THE  SYMBOL 

taken  for  grcanted,  and  in  saying,  Philip  hap- 
tized  him  (Acts  8 :  35-38),  gives  us  to  under- 
stand that  everything  was  done  which  had  to 
be  done,  as  we  know  from  the  tradition  that  has 
come  down  from  one  generation  to  another, 
although  Scripture,  for  the   sake  of  brevity, 
does  not  mention  it ;  in  like  manner,  when  we 
find  it  written  that  Phihp  j^reached  unto  him 
the  Lord  Jesus,  we  cannot  at  all  doubt  that  in 
the  catechism  those   things   were   dealt   with 
which  bear  upon  the  life  and  conduct  of  him 
who   believes   in   the   Lord   Jesus.      For,   to 
preach  Christ  is  not  only  to  teach  what  must 
be  believed  concerning  Christ,  but  also  what 
he  has  to  observe  who  becomes  a  member  of 
Christ's  body ;  nay,  in  sooth,  to  teach  all  that 
is  to  be  believed  of  Christ,  not  merely  whose 
Son  He  is ;  to  set  forth  whence  He  is  as  to 
His  Divinity,  of  whom  born  according  to  the 
flesh,  what  things  He  suffered  and  why,  what 
the  virtue  of  his  resurrection  is,  what  gift  the 
Spirit  has  promised  and  given  to  the  faith- 
ful. .  .  ."  '' 

Historical  criticism  assumes  that  the  primi- 
tive Baptismal  Creed  of  the  Church  was  the 
simple  profession  of  faith  in  Christ  recorded  in 

»  De  Fide  et  Operibus,  c.  9,  cols.  205-6  (Migne,  torn.  40). 

148 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


the  eighth  chapter  of  the  Acts.^"     St.  Augus- 
tine, so  far  from  holding  this  view,  maintains 
that  even  in  the  case  of  the  Ethiopian  eunuch, 
which  might  well  seem  an  exceptional  case,' 
Philip  carried  out  the  baptismal  service  in  sub- 
stantially the  same  way  as  it  used  to  be  carried 
out  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  and  as  it 
continues  to  be  carried  out  down  to  this  day. 
The  Scripture,  he  grants,  does  not  say  so  in 
terms,  but  leaves  it  to  be  inferred  ;  and  "  we 
know  "  that  it  was  done.    How  did  they  know  ? 
By  Apostolic  tradition— "serie  traditionis,"  an 
unbroken  chain  of  oral  communication  whose 
first  Hnks  were  forged  in  the  workshop  of  the 
Apostles.     And  what  was  the  very  first  thing 
to  be  done,  according  to  the  Apostolic  tradi- 
tion ?     St.  Augustine  does  not  leave  us  to  con- 
jecture.    He  is  clear  that  the  very  first  thing 
to  be  done  was  to  instruct  in  the  Faith  the 
person  to  be  baptized,  to  deliver  the  Creed  to 
the  catechumen.     But  what  Creed,  accordino- 
to  St.  Augustine,  was  delivered   to  the   cate- 
chumen, the  "  eunuch  of  great  authority  under 


«>  Dogma,   Gerarchia  e  Cullc,  p.  326. 
duction  to  the  Creeds,  p.  33  and  p.  43. 

149 


Burn,  An  Intro- 


THE  SYMBOL 

Queen  Candace,"   whom  PhUip  instructed  in 
the  Faith  ?     Was  it  a  formula  that  contained 
only  the  second  article  of  the  Symbol  j^uown 
to  Augustine  ?     Nothing  of  the  kind.     It  was 
the  whole  Creed,   the  whole   Symbol— "  imo 
vero    cuncta   dicere   qu  o   sunt   credenda   de 
Christo."     Tradition    said    nothing    of   what 
passed  between  Tl  "ap  and  the  eunuch.     But 
the  Apostolic  oiigm  of  the  Symbol  was  known 
«  serie  traditionis,"  and  from  this  the  inference 
was  an  easy  one  that  the  eunuch  was  taught 
all  the  truths  contained  in  the  Symbol.     We 
claim,  therefore,  the  great  Bishop  of  Hippo  as 
anjother  witness  to  the  tradition  of  the  Apos- 
tolic authorship  of  the  Creed. 


The  Gospel 
IN  A  Nut- 
shell. 


VII. 

The  Master  had  charged  His 
Apostles,  when  he  sent  them  out 
into  all  the  world,  to  give  bap- 
tism only  to  believers:  He  who  believes 
and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved.  Believes 
what?  The  Gospel,  of  course.  The  whole 
Gospel?     Yes.     In  extenso,  as  we  have  it  in 

150 


OF  THE  AP0STLE8. 

the  New  Testament  writings  ajd  in  Tradition  ? 
The  thing  was  not  to  be  thought  of  for  one 
moment.     How,  then,  the  whole  Gospel  ?  In  a 
compendious  form,  in  a  nutshell— in  the  Sym- 
bol, in  short,  universally  known   in  the;  East 
during  the  second,  third,  and  fourth  centuries 
as  "  the  Faith,"  because   it   was  the  sum  of 
what  candidates  for  baptism  were  required  to 
believe  and  make  profession  of.     Can  we  con- 
ceive the  Apostles  to  have  been  so  neglectful 
of  their  plain  daty  as  not  to  have  drawn  up 
this  Formula  ;.f  Faith  when  the  Master  had 
charged  them  to  exact  a  profession  of  the  Faith 
from  every  soul  who  should  seek  at  their  hands 
the  boon  of  regeneration  in  the  waters  of  bap- 
tism ?     The  question  of  what  was  to  be  be- 
lieved by  the  candidate  for  baptism,  and  in 
what  "  form  of  sound  words  "  this  Faith  should 
find  expression,  pressed  for  solution  from  the 
very  first.     Therefore  the  Apostles  took  no 
steps  to  solve  and  settle  it  once  for  all.     The 
school    of   historical    criticism,    denying    the 
Apostolic  origin  of  the  Symbol,  must  bear  the 
burden  of  this  incredible  consequence. 

Wo  have  yet  to  glance  at  thn  parallel  line 

16X 


mm 


THE  SYMBOL 

o£  tradition  in  the  East  before  seeking  in  the 
New  Testament  writings  for  tokens  and  traces 
of  the  existence  of  the  Symbol.  What  we 
know  of  the  secrecy  observed  regarding  it  will 
serve  to  make  us  content  with  this.  It  forbids 
us  at  the  same  time  to  look  for  more. 


15S 


OP  THE  APOSTLES. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  SYBfBOL  IK  THE  EAST. 


The  Nicene 
NO  New 
Creed. 


L 

At  the  close  of  the  first  quarter 
of  the  fourth  century,  the  three 

hundred  and  eighteen  Fathers  as-         

sembled  at  Nice,  reaffirmed,  in 
what  has  ever  since  been  known  as  the  Nicene 
Creed,  "the  Faith  once  for  all  delivered  to  the 
saints."    As  set  forth  by  the  Council,  this  Creed 
ends  abruptly  at  the  ninth  article.    "  There  was 
question  then  of  Anus,  not  of  Origen,"  says 
St   Jerome,  "of   the   Son,  not   of  the   Holy 
Ghost.     The  Fathers  affirmed  what  was  denied 
and  passed  over  in  silence  what  no  one  called 
in  question.'"     So,  too,  the  Anglican  Blunt, 
at  page  175  of  his  Theological  Dictionary  : 

coIl47r'"'^'*"  "  '^'""•'  "^' '''"''  ^'"^*'  '^'°-  ^' 

153 


1 

j 

1 

I 

i 

\ 
1 

THE  SYMBOL 

«  The  Nicene  Creed  as  preserved  to  us  by  Euse- 
bius,  breaks  off   with  the  words,  and  in  the 
Holy   Ghost,  as  being  aU  that  was  germane 
matter  to  the  pending  controversy  ;  but,  within 
a  few  years  Epiphanius  supplies  to  us  the  fuller 
form  as  the  Creed  of  the   Church  of  Cyprus, 
which  was  reproduced  almost  verbatim  by  the 
Council   of  Constantinople."     Epiphanius,  in 
fact,  {Ancoratus,  118)  cites  the  fuller  form  as 
the  Symbol  "  prescribed  by  the  three  hundred 
andt«n  odd"  in  the  Nicene  Council,  assiun- 
ing,   certainly   not   without   reason,  that   the 
Fathers  neither  would   nor  could  curtaU   the 
ancient  Creed  of  the  Church. 

It   needs   not,   however,   the   testimony  of 
Epiphanius   or  of   Rufinus   (who   attests   the 
agreement  of  the  Eastern  with  the  Western 
formulary  in  all  but  one  or  two  trifling  details) 
to  assure  us  that  the  Creed  of  Nice  is  no  new 
Creed.     He  who  runs  may  read  and  see  for 
himself  that  this  is  but  a  second  edition,  with 
explanatory   notes,  of   the   ancient   formulary 
which  St.  Leo  the  Great  commends  to  us  as 
«  the  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Symbol."    Article 
for  article,  though  not  word  for  word,  they  are 

164 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

one  and  the  same.  The  later  Creed  is  but  an 
elaborated  form  of  the  older  and  simpler  one. 
The  same  features,  cast  in  their  primitive 
mould,  still  look  out  at  us  familiarly  from  their 
new  and  more  ornate  setting. 


n. 


Counterpart 
OP  Old  Ro- 
man Symbol. 


Now,  this  ancient  and  simple 
Creed,  twin-sister  of  the  Old  Ro- 
man Symbol,  nay,  tho  very  coun- 
terpart and  alter  ego  of  it,  exist- 
ed in  the  East  from  the  first.  The  framework 
of  it  was  the  same  Trinitarian  Formula ;  it  com- 
prised twelve  articles ;  it  was  a  Baptismal  Creed 
as  well  as  a  Rule  of  Faith  c  -^d  test  of  orthodoxy. 
St.  Athanasius  admires  the  fabric  of  it,  where- 
in the  "  so  great  glory  of  the  Most  Holy  Trinity 
is  set  forth  in  twelve  distinct  phrases,"  and  de- 
clares that  to  "add  to  or  take  away  aught 
from  it  were  a  sacrilege.*"     Eusebius  cites  the 

«  De  Profess.  Reg.  CatlioL,  ad  init.  This  work,  written 
in  Latin  aud  puiporting  to  be  a  translation,  is  8«t  down  as 
genuine  in  the  edition  of  the  works  of  St.  Athanasius  pub- 
lished at  Paris  in  IT-Jd,  and  rtpubliaiied  at  Cologne  sixty 
jrear»  later.    The  citation  given  above  is  niade  from  the 

155 


THE  SYMBOL 


epistle  sent  by  the  Synod  of  Antioch,  in  2C8 
A.D.,  to  Pope  Dionysius,  in  which  Paul  of  Sa- 


later  edition.  Migne  (P.  G.)  decides  against  its  genuine- 
ness, and  ascrihos  it  to  Idatius.  He  admits,  however, 
that  in  all  the  MSS.,  and  in  all  the  editions  of  the  work 
(LibriS.  Athanas.  de  Trinit. ,  of  which  De  Profess.  Reg. 
Cath.  is  the  seventh)  it  is  ascribed  to  Athanasius ;  and 
the  MSS.  date  from  the  twelfth  century.  Migne  (P.  L.) 
seeks  to  show  that  "Idatius"  does  but  hide  tie  identity 
of  the  real  author,  whom  he  makes  out  to  be  Vigilius 
of  Thapsus,  an  African  by  birth,  who  flourished  in  the 
latter  half  of  the  fifth  century.  Driven  from  his  see  by 
the  Arian  Vandals,  he  took  up  his  abode  in  Constanti- 
nople for  a  season,  and  there  wrote  a  book  against  Euty- 
ches.  Cf.  Migne,  P.  L.,  torn.  62,  cols.  94  and  493.  The 
work  from  which  the  citation  is  given  above  is  in  the  form 
of  a  dialogue  between  Athanasius  and  an  Arian  heretic. 
Well  may  the  author,  whoever  he  be,  speak  of  the  Baptis- 
mal Creed  as  "  setting  forth  the  so  great  glory  of  the  Most 
Holy  Trinity  in  twelve  distinct  phrases."  The  Council  of 
Nice  framed  no  new  Creed,  nor  did  it,  as  we  have  seen,  set 
forth  all  the  articles  of  the  old  and  unwritten  Creed  of  the 
Catholic  Church.  This  was  from  the  first  and  continued  to 
be,  in  the  words  of  Leo  the  Great,  duodecim  apostolorum 
totidem  signata  aententiis — recognizable  as  Apostolic  by 
its  having  the  Apostolic  number  of  articles.  The  Fathers 
of  Nice  did  but  declare  more  clearly  and  fully  the  mean- 
ing of  the  ancient  Creed  by  way  of  safeguarding  "the 
Faith  once  for  all  delivered  to  the  saints."  "  And  any- 
how," are  the  words  of  St.  Athanasius  (De  Synod,  n.  43 ; 
Migne,  P.  G.,  torn.  20),  "  the  three  hundred  did  not  set 
down  in  writing  ai  "thing  newly  invented."  Hence,  despite 
the  fact  that  the  Human  Church  still  clung  to  her  ancient 

156 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

mosata  is  condemned  as  having  «  departed  from 
the  Rule  of  Faith  and  embraced  a  spurious  doc- 
trine The  miplication  is  that  the  Rule  of 
i^aith  was  the  same  in  the  East  as  in  the  West 
«ie  same  at  Antioch   as  at  Rome.     But  thj 
Roman  Church  never  knew  of  any  Rule  of 
i^aith,   never   recognized   any  Rule  of   Faith, 
other  than  the  Apostolic  Symbol.     The   pro' 
f  ession  of  Faith  presented  by  Arius  and  Euzoius 
to  Constantine,  some  sixty  years  later,  is  still 
the  ancient  Symbol  of  the  Church,  with  the 
seventh   and  eleventh   articles  left   out,   the 
second   expanded    somewhat,   and   the   tenth 
thrown  into  the  last  place,  as  we  find  it  also 
in  a  sermon  (215)  attributed  to  St.  Augustine. 

Hk  ^f  ^«\^J°^^g:^ty,  (2)  and  in  Jesus  Christ 
His  Son,  who  was  born  of  Him  before  all  a^es  • 
God  the  Word,  by  whom  were  made  all  tKs 
m  heaven  and  earth ;  who  descended,  (3)  aifd 

167 


THE  SYMBOL 

was  made  man ;  (4)  who  suffered,  (5)  and  rose 
again,  (6)  and  ascended  into  heaven ;  (8)  and 
is  to  come  again  to  judge  the  living  and  the 
dead,  (9)  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  (12)  the  resur- 
rection of  the  flesh,  and  in  the  hfe  of  the 
world  to  come  and  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven ; 
(10)  and  in  the  one  Catholic  Church  of  ^od, 
which  extends  from  end  to  end  of  the  earth.    ' 

Further   evidence   of   the    existence  in  the 
East,  long  before  the  time  of  the  Nicene  Coun- 
cil, of  a  Baptismal  Creed  held  to  be  of  Apos- 
tolic origin,  is  to  be  found  in  the  Didascalia, 
whence   Zahn   has   conjecturally   restored   it. 
The  Didascalia,  as  Burn  observes,  was  written 
in  the  third  century,  probably  not  far  from 
Antioch.     It  attributes  to  the  Twelve  the  com- 
position of  the  Creed.     "  There  is  no  trace 
here  of  Western  influence,"  writes  Burn,  after 
citing  a  passage  from  it,  «  Yet  we  find  a  Trin- 
itarian Creed  traced  back  to  an  Apostohc  Coun- 
cil."    {An  Introduction  to  the  Creeds :  Ap- 
pendix F.). 

*  Socrat.  Hist,  1.  1,  c.  26 ;  Sozom.  HUt,  I.  2,  o.  2T. 


158 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


in. 

In  the  writings  of  St.  Basil  we    i  Testimony  op 
have  abundant  evidence  of   the    L?.".?^^!^;. 
existence  in   the  East,  from  the 
very   earliest    times,    of  this   primitive  Ante- 
Nicene  Creed.     At   the   outset   of  his  work 
against   Eunomius,  he   says  that    if  all  upon 
whom  the  name  of  God  and  our  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ  was  invoked  "  had  been  content  with 
the  tradition  of  the  Apostles  and  simplicity  of 
the  Faith,  there  would  have  been  no  need  at 
this  time  of  our  discourse."  s     He  cites  Euno- 
mius as  saying ; 

"The  more  simple  and  common  Faith  of  all 
who  wish  to  appear  or  to  be  Christians,  to 
state  It  m  a  condensed  and  compendious  form, 
18  as  follows  :  We  believe  in  one  God  the  Father 
Almighty,  from  whom  are  aU  things ;  and  in 
one  only-begotten  Son  of  God,  God  the  Word, 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  are  all  things 
and  m  one  Holy  Ghost,  the  Paraclete." 

Eunomius  here  gives  us  expressly  to  under- 
stand that  he  is  presenting  but  "a  summary 

» Adv.  Eunom.,  1. 1,  n.  4. 

159 


THE  SYMBOL 

and  compendium"   of  the  primitive   Creed. 
Plainly  it  was  a  Baptismal  Creed,  based  upon 
the  same  Trinitarian  Formula  as  the  Old  Ro- 
man Symbol.     He  appeals  to  it  as  «  that  pious 
tradition  which  prevailed  from  the  first  amongst 
the  fathers  as  a  kind  of  gnomon  or  rule.'      St. 
Basil  says  that  Arius  "  presented  this  same 
profession   of   Faith   to  Alexander,  deceiving 
him."     He  does  not  deny,  he  freely  admits 
rather,  that  it  was  the  ancient  Creed  of  the 
Church  ;  but  he  complains  that  the  Arians  put 
their  own  interpretation  on  it.     "  And  having," 
he  says,  "set  down  the  profession  of  Faith,  he 
at  once  passes  on  to  his  interpretations ;  for 
this  reason  among  others,  that  the  profession 
in  question  is  not  enough  to  do  away  with  the 
charges  under  which  he  lies.     .     .     •     TeU 
me,  this  pious  tradition  of  the  Fathers,  and,  as 
you   yourself   have   termed  it,  this   rule  and 
gnomon  and  safe  criterion,  is  it  now,  on  the 
contrary,  proclaimed  to  be  an  instrument  ot 
deceit  and  a  means  of  deceiving?  " '   Elsewhere, 

6  lb  n  5  "  For  the  Old  Roman  Creed,  as  any  one  may 
easily  convince  himself,  is  neutral  with  regard  to  the  op 
position  between  orthodoxy  and  Arianism.  An  Anan  can 
*^  160 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


dealing  with  its  use  as  a  Baptismal  Creed,  he 
says  ;  "Shall  I,  then,  give  over  that  tradition 
which  brought  me  to  the  light,  which  gave'me 
the  knowledge  of  God,  by  which  I  became  a 
child  of  God?     .     .     .     Nay,  rather  do  I  pray 
that  it  may  be  my  good  fortune  to  go  hence  to 
the  Lord  with  this  Confession  {o.noAoria?^  ^^ 
lips." '    Of  this  Baptismal  Creed  he  says  later 
on(c.  27;  n.  65),  "The  very  Confession  of 
Faith  m  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  from 
what  written  records  have  we  it  ?  "     Now,  the" 
Creed  of  the  Council  was  a  written  Creed/ 


Creed  of 
Jerusalem. 


IV. 

This  same  Confession  of  Faith, 
which  he  calls  "the  Faith" 
simply,  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem, 
a   contemporary  of   St.  Basil,  presents  to  us 

perfectly  well  recite  it,  for  he  does  not  deny  that  Christ  is 
the  only  Son  of  God,  but,  on  the  contrary,  maiut.-un.  it 
toge  ^rwitlialltheotherstatements  which  are  combined 
m  t.  reed.  '-The  Apostles'  Creed,  by  Dr.  A.lolf  Harnaok 
(tranv^ted  from  the  Oernum  for  Tlie  Nineteenth  Century, 
July,  1893,  by  Mrs.  Humphry  Ward). 
J  Liber  de  Spintu  Sancto,  o.  9 ;  n.  26  (Migne,  P.  O..  torn. 

n  161 


-/I 


THE  SYMBOL 

in    his    discourses    to    catechumens.     "The 
Faith  "  was  not  written  by  Cyril ;  it  is  not  to 
be  found,  as  Migne  notes,  in  any  of  the  MSS. 
of  his  works ;  he  forbore  putting  it  in  writing, 
as  did  St.  Augustine,  conformably  to  the  Dis- 
ciphne  of  the  Secret.     Still,  it  may  be  recon- 
structed from  his  writings,  as  it  has  been  from 
those  of  St.  Augustine.     Migne  (i  e.,  a  writer 
cited  by  that  editor)  has  picked  out  of  his  ser- 
mons and  pieced  together  the  Symbol  of  the 
Mother  Church  of  Jerusalem,  which  is  set  forth 
in  the  following  table,  side  by  side  with  the 
Old  Roman  Symbol : 


Old  Roman  Symbol. 

(1)1  believe  in  God  the 
Father  Almighty ; 


(3)  And  in  Christ  Jesus, 
His  Only  Son,  our  Lord ; 


(3)  Born  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  the  Virgin 
Mary; 


Symbol  of  Jerusalem. 

(1)  We  believe  in  one  God 
the  Father  Almighty,  maker 
of  heaven  and  earth,  and  of 
all  things  visible  and  invisi- 
ble; 

(2)  And  in  one  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  only-begotten  Son  of 
God,  born  true  God  of  the 
Father,  before  all  ages;  by 
whom  all  things  were  made ; 

(3)  Who  came  in  the  flesh, 
and  was  made  man  of  the 
Holy  Virgin  and  the  Holy 
Ghost    [Catech.  4a  ;  n.  9] ; 

16a 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

Old  Roman  Symbol. 

(4)  Crucified  under  Pon- 
tius Pilate  and  buried, 

(5)  Rose  again  the  third 
day  from  the  dead, 

(6)  Ascended  into  heav- 
en. 

(7)  Sitteth  at  the  i  !?ht 
hand  of  the  Father, 

(8)  Whence  He  shall 
come  to  judge  the  quick 
and  the  dead. 

(9)  And  in  the  Holv 
Ghost ; 

(10)  The  Holy  Church, 

(11)  The  remission  of 
sins; 

(12)  The  resurrection  of 
the  flesh. 


Symbol  of  Jerusalem. 

(4)  Crucified  und  buried, 

(5)  Rose   again   the  third 
day; 

(6)  And     ascended      into 
heaven. 

(7)  And  sitteth  at  the  right 
hand  of  the  Father, 

(8)  And  is  to  come  in  glory 
to  judge  the  quick  and  dead  ; 
of  whose  kingdom  there  shall 
be  no  end. 

(0)  And  in  one  Holy  Ghost, 
the  Paraclete,  who  spoke  by 
the  prophets ; 

(10)  And  in  one  holy  Cath- 
olic Church  ; 

(11)  And  in  one  baptism  of 
penance  for  the  remission  of 
sins  ; 

(12)  And  in  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  flesh,  and  the  life 
everlasting. 


Here,  then,  we  have  fhe  Baptismal  Creed  of 
the  Mother  Church  of  Jerusalem.  Immedi- 
ately  on  finishing  his  exposition  of  it,  St.  Cyril 
says  to  his  catechumens ;  «  We  have  discoursed 
upon  the  holy  and  Apostolic  Faith  (Symbol) 
that  has  been  delivered  to  yoi,  and  that  you 

163 


THE  SYMBOL 

are  to  make  profession  of." '     The  fact  that 
this  Symbol  was  in  use  in  the  Church  of  Jeru- 
salem in  the  fourth  century  serves  to  dissipate 
the  doubt  raised  by  Harnack,  where  he  says : 
«  But  if  the  Cesarean  symbol  is  not  one  framed 
for  a  particular  community,  then  we  know  abso- 
lutely nothing  of  any  definite,  detailed,  ancient 
communal  symbols  in  the  East  of   any  date 
preceding  the  Nicene  Creed." '     For  here  is  a 
definite,    detailed,    ancient    Eastern    Symbol,^ 
"communal,   such    as    the   Roman,"  for   the 
Church  of  Jerusalem  formed  the  nucleus  of  a 
great  religious  community  in  the  East,  as  the 
Church  of  Rome  did  in  the  West ;  and  demon- 
strably older  than  the  Nicene  Creed.     It  be- 
speaks an  earUer  stage  of  development  than 
that  Creed,  as  any  one  may  see  who  wiU  be  at 
the  pains  to  compare  the  two ;  it  wants  sev- 
eral of  the  additions  made  at  Nice,  notably  the 
*  6!u>o^io.  roT  ^arpf ;  it   is   the   simpler  formulary, 
and  therefore  the  older.     Besides,  how  comes 
it  to  have  been  still  the  Baptismal  Creed  of 

8  Cat.  17 :  33.  ^  u    i.u 

9  The  Aposllea'  Creed  (translated  from  the  German  by  the 

Rev.  Stewart  Means),  p.  43. 

164 


':■! 


gation  of  the  N.cene  decrees,  but  that  it  already 
was  in  possession  there  time  out  of  mind,  and 
so  could  claim  exemption,  even  as  did  the  Old 
Koman  Creed,  on  the  score  of  its  Apostolic 


A  SiSTEP'S 
DACGHTEFf. 


V. 

^  But  what  is  the  relationship  of 
St.  Cyril's  Creed  to  the  Old  Ro- 
man Symbol?  Harnack  finds 
It  to  be  "so  close  that  Cyril's  Symbol  can 
o!;y»  '  '^'^'''?^'''  «r  the  sister  of  the  Roman 
one.  The  sister  it  cannot  well  be :  it  bears 

about  It  the  tokens  of  too  ripe  a  growth  for 
that       Therefore,  Harnack  concludes  that  it 
must  be  the  daughter.     Unfortunately  for  this 
conclusion,  his    disjunctive   is   not   complete, 
tyril  s  Symbol  may  stand  in  the  relation  of  a 
sister  s  daughter  to  the  Roman  one.     And  this, 
as  will  now  be  shown,  is  just  the  relationship. 
Harnack  s  guess  as  to  the  Roman  origin  of  St. 
^yril  s  Creed  rests  on  the  assumption  that  there 

"  lb.,  p.  47. 

165 


,  %,itri! 


11 


THE  SYMBOL 

was  no  Baptismal  Creed  in  the  East  before  the 
Council  of  Nice  promulgated  its  Creed— an 
assumption  that  has  not  the  faintest  shadow  of 
warrant  in  fact.     As  well  might  he  maintain 
that  the  Mother  Church  of  Jerusalem  got  her 
Faith  and  Baptism  from  Rome  as  that  she  got 
her  Symbol  thence.     And  here  let  me  say,  with 
all  the  deference  that  is  due  to  Harnack's  un- 
doubted scholarship,   that  when  he   commits 
himself  to  the  statement  that  "  there  was  no 
established  baptismal  confession  of  faith  in  the 
East  in  the  third  century,"  he  does  but  declare 
his  own  unfitness  to  give  expert  testimony  on 
the  question  that  is  under  discussion.     Ihere 
never  yet  has  been  a  Church  within  the  pale  of 
Christ's  world-wide  Kingdom  but  has  had  some 
fixed  Baptismal  Confession  of  Faith.     "  The 
Faith "  in  which  St.  Cyril  baptized  his  cate- 
chumens, was  not,  he  tells  them  expressly,  the 
Faith  of  the  East  alone,  or  of  the  West  alone 
but  of  the  Catholic  Church-the  Church  of  all 
acres  and  of  all  lands,  the  same  in  Jerusalem  as 
in  Rome,  the  same  in  the  first  century  as  m 
the  fourth.     "The  Catholic  Church,    he  says, 
"teaches  you  in  the  Confession  of  Faith  to 

1G6 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

believe  in  one  Holy  Spirit."  "  But  since  "  bap- 
tism bestows  the  Rule  of  Truth,"  or  Confession 
of  Faith,  which  Irenaeus  tells  us  it  did  even  in 
the  second  century,  then  as  surely  as  there  was 
baptism  in  the  East  before  the  Council  of  Nice, 
so  surely  was  there  in  the  East  a  fixed  Bap- 
tismal Creed. 


VI. 


Creed  of 
Marcellus. 


Stripped  of  its  additions  (all 
of  them  of  a  strongly  marked 
Eastern  character),  CyriFs  Creed 
is  the  primitive  Creed  of  the  Church;  the 
ancient  Confession  in  which  Athanasius  (or 
is  it  Vigilius  ?)  finds  the  "  so  great  glory  of 
the  Most  Holy  Trinity  set  forth  in  twelve  dis- 
tinct phrases  ; "  the  "  gnomon  and  rule  and  safe 
criterion,"  based  upon  the  Baptismal  Formula, 
to  which  Eunomius  and  the  otlier  Arians  of 
his  day  appeal  as  to  "  the  common  Faith  of  all 
who  wish  to  appear  or  to  be  Christians  ; "  the 
Creed,  in  fine,  which  Marcellus  of  Ancyra 
brought  with  him  from  the  East  and  presented 


»  Catech.  17,  n.  8. 


1C7 


THE  SYMBOL 

to  Pope  Julius,  some  time  between  337  and 
341  A.D.,   as  the  Confession  learned  "from 
my  [his]  forefathers  in  God."     It  is  true  that 
Marcellus    says    he   learned   it  also   from  the 
Scriptures;  but  so  say  many  of  the  Fathers, 
among  them  some  who  say  in  the  same  breath 
that  it  was  composed  by  the  Apostles."     They 
mean,  of  course,  as  Marcellus  meant,  that  they 
found  in  the   Scriptures  every  truth  set  forth 
in  the  Creed.     There  is  one  thing,  however, 
that  Marcellus  does  not  say  :  he  does  not  say 
that  he  learned  his  Creed  in  Rome.     And  yet 
the  critics,  in   the  very  teeth  of  what  he  does 
say,  namely,  that  he  got  his  Creed  from  his 
" forefathers  in  God  "   (who  were  not  Romans), 
tell  us  that  the  Creed  of  Marcellus  is  the  Old 
Roman  Creed.     In  this  the  critics  are  true  to 
their  method,  but  false  to  fact,  or  rather  what 
they  take  to  be  the  fact.     It  the  Ohl  Roman 
Creed  was  drawn   up  at  Rome  some  time  be- 
tween 100  and  150  A.D.,  as  certain    of   tlie 
critics  beUeve,  then  the  Creed   of  Marcellus   is 

«  Cf.  rassinnus.  Tie  Incarnat.  1.  6.  c.  3  (Migiie.  P.  L., 
torn.  50)  ;  St.  Cyril,  Catech.  5 ;  12  ooiniMired  with  Caiech. 

17  ;  32. 

108 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

emphatically  not  the  Old  Roman  Creed  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  Old  Roman  Creed  is 
what  Hilary  and  Ambrose  and  Jerome  and 
Leo  and  Rufinus  say  it  is— the  Symbol  of 
Faith  composed  by  the  Twelve  before  their 
separation,  the  Creed  of  Mjircellus,  with 
"  Father  "  added  to  its  first  article, .and  "life 
everlasting  "  dropped  from  the  twelfth,  is  the 
Old  Roman  or  Apostles'  Creed. 

The  fatal  mistake  made  by  the  critics  in 
deahng  with  the  Creed  of  Marcellus  is  to  have 
judged  of  it  by  the  later  polemical  formularies 
whijh  sprang  up  like  mushrooms  in  the  East 
after  the  rise  of  the  Arian  heresy.  '^  The  Creed 
of  Marcellus  is  older  than  any  of  these  for- 
mularies, is  not  a  polemical  Creed,  and  was 
not  a  written  Creed  till  he  put  it  in  writing 
for  the  first  time.     Marcellus  himself  was  one 

"  *'  Sprang  up  like  mushrooms  "  is  a  strong  exprossion, 
but  wiJl  hardly  apjH'ar  exaggerated  ia  view  of  what  St.' 
Hilary,  a  <;ontemj»oiarv  witness,  tells  us  in  .4(7  ConHtan- 
tium.  '•  For  we  bear  witness  one  to  another,"  he  writes, 
"how  that,  ever  since  th->  Synod  was  convened  at  Nice' 
t^.ere.s  nothing  but  creed- writing.  .  .  .  Yearly  and  monthly 
Creeds  (faiths)  are  issued,  those  issued  set  aside,  those  set 
aside  defended,  the  defenders  anathematized,  .  .  ."  (lb 
lib.  2,  n.  5.)  ^    '* 

169 


'  !r-| 


THE  SYMBOL 

of  the  three  hundred  and  eighteen  Fathers 
who  gave  to  the  world  the  Nicene  Symbol,  and 
was  distinguished  at  the  Council  for  his  cham- 
pionship of  the  Orthodox  Faith.  The  Creed 
that  he  got  from  his  "  forefathers  a  God 
existed  in  the  East,  therefore,  lon<:  before  Anus 
was  born. 


Testimony  of 
St.  Hilaky. 


VII. 

Let  me  cite,  in  further  proof 
of  this,  one  or  two  passages  from 
the    writings   of    so    competent 
a   witness   as   St.  Hilary,  Bishop  of  Poitiers 
Hilary  knew  the  East  thoroughly  m  the  first 
half   of   the   fourth   century,   havmg   striven 
earnestly  there  with  the  Arians,  on  their  own 
ground,  for  "  the  Faith  once  dehvered  to  the 
Saints  "     An  exile   in  the  East,  he  writes  to 
the  Emperor  Constantius.     Here  is  the  context 
of  the  passage  just  given  in  the  footnote  : 

"  Recognize,  excellent  and  most  pious  Em- 
peror, the  Creed  which  you  formerly  desued 
to  hear  from  the  (Arian)  Bishops,  and  did  not. 
Fo  when  it  was  sought  from  them,  they  wrote 
out  their  own  creeds,  and  taught  not  the  things 

170 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


of  God.     They  have  carried  their  error  round 
the  everlasting  globe,  and  with  it  a  strife  that 
ever  returns  upon  itself.     Man  in  his  feeble- 
ness ought  to  have   been  modest,  and  to  have 
kept  the  sacrament   (mystery,  symbol)  of  the 
knowledge    of    God    in  his  conscience  within 
those  terms  wherein  he  (first)  made  an  act  of 
taith.     It  behooved  him  not,  after  confessing 
under  oath  m  baptism  the  Faith  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,   and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Moly(jrho.^t,  to  doubt  aught,  or  innovate  aught. 
iiut  through  presumption,  or  complaisance,  or 
error,    some    have    deceitfully    confessed    the 
unchangeable    ordinance '-^    of   the   Apostolic 
doctrme ;  others  have  boldly  gone  beyond  it ; 
while  the  true,  natural  meaning  of  the  Con- 
fession   in    Father,    Son,    and    Holy  Ghost  is 
evaded,  lest  that  meaning  should  remain  which 
ought  to  be  confessed  in  the  sacrament  of  re- 
generation.  .  .  .  lb.,  n.  4. 

"A  Creed,  then,  is  sought,  as  if  there  were 
no  Creed.  The  Creed  must  be  written,  as  if 
It  were  not  in  the  heart.  Born  again  by  faHh 
now  we  are  taught  unto  Faith,  as  'if  tiiat 
second  birth  were  without  Faith.  We  learn 
Christ  after  baptism,  as  if  there  could  bo  any 
baptism    witliout    tlie     Faith    of   Christ.   . 


^*  "  Constitutionera 
or  "  symbol." 


may  properly  lio  rendered  -'rulo" 

in 


THE  SYMBOL 

As  it  is  the  safest  course  for  those  who  sail  the 
stormy  sea  in  winter,  when  shipwreck  threatens, 
to  return  to  the  port  whence  they  set  sail ;  and 
as  it  behooves  inexperienced  young  men,  who 
have   gone   beyond   the  bounds  observed   by 
then,  father,  and,  in  keeping  up  the  ?iome,  have 
spent  their  patrimony  with  too  F«digal  a  hand, 
nL,  for  fear  of  losing  their  all,  to  go  ^ack Jo 
the  way  of  their  father,  as  the   needful  and 
only  safe  way ;  so,  amid  such  shipwreck  of  the 
Faith  as  we  see  around  us,  when  the  heritage 
of  our  heavenly  patrimony  is  "  J^^" 
dered,  the  safest  course  for  us  is  to  hold  last 
the  first  and  only  Evangelical  Creed,  learned 
and  confessed  in  ba.v  :sm.  .  .. .    Jhi^  ^  ^^^^«, 
so  believed  in  the  iiolv  Spirit  that  I  cannot 
now  be  taught  any  Falin  beyond  it  concernmg 
?hTLord  Jesus  Christ :  not  thei^by  dissenting 
from  the  Faith  of  the  Fathers  (Nicene  Creed), 
but  following  the  Symbol  of  my  second  birth, 
and  the    knowledge    of   evangelical   doctnne 
^vhich    are   in  no    wise  at  variance  with  that 
(Creed)."— Z^-,  n.  6-11. 

Thus  does  Hilary,  writing  to  Constantius 
take  for  granted,  as  something  known  to  all 
the  existence,  in  the  East,  too,  of  a  Baptisma 
Creed  based  upon  the  Trinitarian  Formula;  ot 
a  Creed  which  antedated  all  written  Creeds,  ui- 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

eluding  the  Nicene.     He  caUs  it  "  the  first  and 
only  Evangelical  Creed,  learned  and  confessed 
m  baptism,"  the  "  Apostohc  Faith  "  (n.  6),  i.  e. 
Symbol,  and  sets  forth  as  its  content  (n'  11)* 
approved  also  by  Scripture,  as  many  as  seven 
articles  of  the   Old  Roman  Creed.     In   short 
he  makes  it  plain  that  he  is  referring  to  what 
has  been  ever  known  in  the  Church  as  the 
Symbol    of  the   Apostles.      He    counsels   to 
Christians   in    the   East,  under    the    Emperor 
Constantius,  a  return  to  this  the  Creed  of  their 
baptism.     Perhaps  those  who  sav  that  "  there 
was  no    established   baptismal    confession     of 
faith  in  the  East  in  the  tliird  century,"  will  tell 
us  how  there  can  be  a  return  to  that  which 
never  existed. 


•jl.. 


vin. 

Upheld  by  St.  Hilary,  and  .The  t^xwrit- 
borne,  as  it  were,  ujjon  his  shoul-  ..'":!:.^'^.. 
dors,  we  can  see  far  into  the 
third  century,  and  descry  in  the  East  the 
ol)ject  of  our  quest— a  counterpart  and  olfrr 
i'ijo  of  the  01(1  Roman  Symbol     But  there  is 

i'i'-i 


THE  SYMBOL 

yet   another   passage   in   the   writings   of  St. 
Hilary  which  must  be  cited.     It  is  found  in 
the  Liber  de   Synodls   sen  de  Fide  Orien^ 
talmm      AVe   learn   from   It    that  while   the 
Creed    was    never    written    in   the   West   m 
Hilary's  time,  polemical   formularies,  written 
Creeds  based  upon  the  Symbol,  began  to  be 
published  in  the  East  owing  to  the  spread  ot 
heresy.     He  is  addressing  his  brother  Bishops 
in  Germany  and  other  parts  of  the  West : 

"But  blessed  are  ye  in  the  Lord  and  full  of 
fflory,  who  hold  fast,  in  the  confession  ot  the 
fonsc  ence,  the  perfect  and   Apostolic  Creed, 
and Tyet  know  nothing  of  written  creeds. 
For  you  stand  not  in  need  of  the  letter,  abound- 
fnJ  L  you  do  in  the  spirit.     Nor  do  you  want 
the  help  of  a  hand  to  write  what  you  believe 
^  h  tt  heart,  and  confess  with  the  lips  unto 
salvation.     iNeither  was  it  needful  for  you  to 
read  out  to  a  bishop  what  you  held  (in  memory 
when  you  stood  at  the  baptismal  font.     But 
necessity  has  introduced  the  custom  of  settmg 
forth  creeds  in  writing  and  «^^^«f  ^b"ig  to   hem 
For  where  the  inmost  sentiment  of  the  mind  is 
in  question,  there  the  letter  is  required.     And 
certainly  there  is  no  bar  to  the  writing  of  tl  at 
which  it  is  salutary  to  confess,  —lb.,  n.  b^. 

174 


:'*■.■; 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


Later  on,  however  (n.  84),  he  deems  it  need- 
ful to  offer  this  justification  of  his  having  re- 
produced in  writing  the  Nicene  Creed  :  "  And 
the  Symbol  itself  which  was  at  that  time  piously 
put  in  writing,  it  will  not  be  impious  in  us  to 
have  inserted  in  this  our  work." 

From  these  passages  we  gather  that  the 
Baptismal  Creed,  which  Hilary  plainly  implies 
to  have  been  the  same  in  the  East  as  in  the 
West,  and  which  he  speaks  of  as  an  "  un- 
changeable ordinance,"  or  "  rule  "  of  Apostolic 
doctrine,  was  not  at  all  a  written  Creed,  and  is 
not  to  be  confounded  with  any  of  the  numer- 
ous polemical  confessions  called  forth  by  the 
Arian  controversy.  These,  indeed,  were  built 
on  the  foundation  of  the  unwritten  Creed,  but 
80  fashioned  as  the  exigencies  of  each  case  re- 
quired. Hence  we  find  the  second  article, 
about  which  the  main  controversy  raged,  to  be 
abnormally  developed  in  most  of  these  formu- 
laries, while  the  third  is  often  rudimentary. '^ 
To  Hilary  it  appeared  as  if,  amid  this  multiplic- 

«  Writers  on  this  subject  usually  refer  to  the  ninth 
article  with  those  that  follow  as  the  "third"  because  it 
introduces  the  last  of  the  threw  nv.in  divisions  of  the 
Symbol. 


THE  SYMBOL 


ity  of  creeds,  Faith  in  the  East  had  parted 
from  her  old  moorings,  and,  tossed  about  on 
an  angry  sea  of  controversy,  could  escape  ship- 
wreck only  by  a  return  to  the  safe  anchorage 
of  her  ancient  Symbol. 


Origen's 
"Plain 
Rule." 


IX. 

We  have  traced  this  Symbol 
in    the     East,    through     Basil, 
Hilary,   and  Marcellus,  back   to 
the  third  century.     Both  Hilary  and  Marcellus 
first  saw  the  hght  towards  the  close  of  that 
century,  and  "  the  forefathers  in  God,"  from 
whom  the  latter  got  the  Symbol,  belong  to  an 
earUer  period.     Among  them  we  may  reckon 
Origen  and  Clement  of  Alexandria.     Here  are 
the^elements  of  what  Origen  calls  "  the  sure 
outline  and  plain  rule  of  Apostolic  teaching," 
as  given  in  Of  Bey  innings,  bli.  1,  n.  4. 

(V)  ''There  is  oh€  Gorl  who  created  and 
ordered  all  thing>^  "  ,  (2)  '  this  God  .  .  • 
sent  our  L<.rd  3e^i^  Clirist."  C-^  r'  who  .  .  . 
took  a  body,  .  .  .  boin  of  the  Virgin  and 
thr  Hob  Ghost  "  ;  ( t)  '  'dfeixd  truly,  .  .  • 
truly  died  "  ;  (r))  ''  truly  rose  from  the  dead    ; 

170 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

(6)  "and  after  His  resurrection  .  .  .  was 
taken  up."  (9)  "Then  .  .  .  they  have 
handed  down  (the  behef  in)  the  Holy  Ghost." 
(12)  "  After  this,  that  the  soul,  .  .  .  when 
it  quits  this  world,  will  be  dealt  with  accord- 
ing to  its  deserts  ;  will  possess  the  heritage  of 
eternal  life,  or  be  banished  into  everlasting 
fire  ;  .  .  .  but  also  that  a  time  will  come 
when  the  dead  shall  rise  asrain."  '^ 

The  numerals  point  to  the  corresponding 
articles  of  the  Old  Roman  Creed.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  mention  is  made  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  in  the  article  on  the  Virgin  Birth — an 
uncommon  thing  in  the  written  creeds  of  the 
century  that  followed.  Who  can  doubt  that 
we  have  here  the  Apostolic  Symbol,  so  far  as 
the  Discipline  of  the  Secret  admitted  of  its  be- 
ing given  in  writing  ?  Origen  tells  us  that  it 
was  "  handed  down  from  the  Apostles  through 
successive  generations,"  and  that  "  that  alone 
is  to  be  received  as  true  which  in  no  wise  dis- 
agrees with  the  ecclesiastical  and  Apostolic 
Tradition."— /&.,  n.  2. 


li 


w  Mlgne,  P.  G.,  torn,  11. 


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THE  SYMBOL 


X. 


Symbol  of 
Alexandria. 


About  the  middle  of  the  third 
century,  shortly  before  the  death 
of   Origen,   Dionysius   of   Alex- 
andria, writing   to  Dionysius  of   Rome,   who 
afterwards  became  Pope,  tells  him  that  No- 
vatian  has  strayed  so  far  from  the  truth  as 
to  "  overturn  the  Confession  of  Faith  (-:''■ '^  ««« 
d/ioXnytav)  which  preccdcs  baptism."  '^     Here  is 
further   evidence,   not   inferential,   but  direct 
and  categorical,  of  the   existence  in  the  East, 
in  the  third  century,  of  what  Harnack  has  so 
egregiously  failed  to  find  there,  "  an  established 
baptismal   confession   of   Faith."      Dionysius 
makes  no   manner  of  doubt  that  his  Roman 
namesake  will  know  what  truths  are  embodied 
in   the    Baptismal  Creed   which  he  does  but 
mention  merely ;  the  same  Faith  and  the  same 
Baptism  would  involve  the   use  of  the  same 
Symbol  within  the  pale  of  the  same  Catholic 
and  Apostolic  Church.     It  is  thio  Symbol  of 
the  Church  of    Alexandria  that  Origen  sum- 
marizes for  us  in  the  passage  cited  above.     He 


"  Hwt.,  bk.  7,  ch.  8. 


178 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

got  it  when  a  boy  from  St.  Clement,  Bishop 
of  that  Church;    for   Eusebius    tells  us    that 
Origen   attended  the   catechetical    instruction 
given   by  St.  Clement.'^     We    can  picture   to 
ourselves  tlie  precocious  boy  eagerly  drinking 
in  those  words  of   the  venerable  old   Bishop 
who  had  "been   worthy  to   hear"  men    who 
"preserved  the  true  tradition  of  the   blessed 
doctrine,  directly  from  Peter,  and  James,  and 
John,  and  Paul,  the  holy  Apostles,  having  re- 
ceived it  in  succession,  the  son  from  the  father, 
though  few  resemble  their  fathers."  "    «  Follow 
God,"    St.     Clement    exhorted     his    hearers, 
.  .  holding   fast  what  is   thine,    what   is 
good,    what  cannot  be  taken  from   thee,  the 
Faith  in  God,    the  Confession    in    Him   who 
suffered."  -     This  he  calls  «  a  most  precious 
possession,"  and  well  he  may,  for  it  is  no  other 
than  that  pearl  of  great  price,  the   Symbol  of 
the  Apostles,  which  sums  up   in  twelve  arti- 

"  lb.,  ch.  6. 

19  Stromata.  bk.  1. 

»  Tt/v  f/f  rov  fteov  niariv,  rr)v  fJc  rov  rraftovra  6/tn?.ny',nv,"  Ptted. 
1.  3  :  c.  3.  •'  Eusebius  and  the  Nirione  Council."  the  obser- 
vant Pearson  notes  (vol.  3,  p.  14)  "have  naUovra  only  in 
their  Creeds." 

179 


n 


THE  SYMBOL 

culate  words  "  the  Faith  once  for  all  deUvered 
to  the  saints."  In  a  later  chapter  (1.  6,  c.  10.) 
he  defines  it  for  us  as  "the  knowledge,  in  a 
brief  and  compendious  form,  of  those  things 
that  are  necessary  to  be  known." 


\i 


M 
11 

ft! 


Justin  and 
Ignatius. 


u 


XL 

Of  this  same  Symbol  we  find 
clear   traces — more  we  may  not 
look    for— in    the    writings    of 
Justin  and  Ignatius,  the  disciple  of  St.  John. 
"  As   many   as   are  persuaded   and   believe, 
writes  the  former,  "  that  the  things  we  teach 
and  declare  are  true,  and  give  assurance  that 
they   are  able   to   live    accordingly,  ...  are 
then  led  by  us  where  there  is  water,  and  are 
regenerated  after  the  manner  of  regeneration 
whereby  we  also  are  regenerated."  "     The  ref- 
erence to  the  catechetical  instruction  and  pro- 
fession of  faith   which  precede  baptism  is  ex- 
plicit,   and   the    renunciation    of   Satan,   his 
works,  and  his  pomps,  is  clearly  imphed.     St. 

«  Apol.  1,  n.  61  (Migne.  P.  O.,  torn.  6).    Cf.  also  lb.,  nn. 
21,  42,  46 ;  Dial.  15,  133. 

180 


S:l 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

Justin  adds  that  "  they  are  then   washed  in 
that  water,  in  the  name  of  God,  the  Father  and 
Lord  of  all  things,  and  of  our  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  "  and  later  on 
varies  the  mention  of  the  Second  Person,  say- 
mg  « ia    the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  crucified 
under   Pontius    PUate,"   where    the   addition 
''  under  Jrontius  Pilate  "  carries  the  mind  back 
to  the  profession  of  faith  in  the  words  of  the 
Symbol,    which   preceded   baptism.     He   had 
already   (n.  31)  given,  from   the   proplietical 
books  of  the  Old  Testament,  a  summary  of 
what  critics   call  "  christological   attributes," 
which  plain  people  are  familiar  with  as  that 
part  of  the   Creed  that  concerns  the   Second 
Person  of  the  Blessed  Trinity. 

In  St.  Ignatius'  Ad  TralUanos  the  early  use 
of  the  Symbol  in  its  recommendatory  character, 
as  a  test  of  Church  meml  .nip,  is  not  ob- 
scurely hinted  at.  The  passage  runs  (the 
numbers  once  more  refer  to  the  articles  of  the 
Old  Roman  Creed) : 

"Close,  then,  your  ears  to  any  one  who 
speaks  to  you  apart  from  (2)  Jesus  Christ,  who 
was  of  the   race  of  David  j  (3)  who  was  of 

181 


m 


II 


mHi 


I 


! 


I 


1! 


!l 

n 


THE  SYMBOL 

Mary,  who  was  truly  born,  ate  and  drank ;  {4) 
truly  suffered  persecution  under  Pontius  Pilat 
was  truly  crucified  and  died,  in  the  sight  ot 
those  who  are  in  heaven,  on  earth,  and  under 
the  earth ;  (5)  who  also  truly  arose  again  from 
the  dead,  His  Father  having  raised  Him  ;  (12) 
as  His  Father  will  raise  in  Jesus  Christ,  with- 
out whom  we  have  no  true  life,  after  the  like- 
ness of  Him,  us  also  who  in  Him  believe."— 
lo.,  c.  9.  Cf.  also  Ad  Smyr.,  c.  1,  where 
with  other  elements  of  the  Symbol,  ''  one  body 
of  His  Church,"  is  included. 

XII. 

It  may  be  well,  before  going 
further,  to  cast  a  side-glance  at 
the    futile    attempt   of    Katten- 
busch  and  Harnack  to  free  thtir  theory  from 
straits.     The  difficulty  which  they  had  to  find 
some  way  out  of   was   this.     If  the    Symbol 
originated  in  Rome  in  the  second  century,  how 
came  it  to  be    the   Baptismal  Creed   of   the 
Eastern  Church  in   the  fourth?     AVhen  and 
where   did  it  gain    official   entrance  into  the 
East?     The  failure  of  the  two  German  writers 
to  answer   this  question  satisfactorily  is  con- 

183 


A  Side- 
glance. 


;  ! 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


spicuous  and  complete.     Both  of  them  seem  to 
regard  "the  period  of  struggles  with  Paul  of 
Samosata""  as  a  likely  one  for  their  attempt 
at  smug(  'ing   the  Old  Roman  Creed  into  the 
Orient.     But  we  have  given  chapter  and  verse 
ot  Eusebius  to  show  that,  during   this   very 
period,  the  East  had  its  Rule  of  Faith,  and  that 
the  Church  of  Alexandria  was  in  peaceful  pos- 
session of  her  Baptismal  Creed  some  years  be- 
fore the  heresiarch  of  Samosata  was  deposed 
from  the  See   of  Antioch.     We   say   "  some 
years,"  so  as  to  be  strictly  within  the  letter  of 
our  historical  warrant. 

Now,  Dionysius  of  Alexandria,  Origen,  and 
Clement  got  their  Symbol  or  Baptismal  Creed 
in  the  East,  where  they  were  "  born  again  " 
unto   God  in   baptism.     For  baptism,  as  Ire- 
naeus  tells  us,  "  bestows  the  Rule  of  Truth," 
which  is  no  other  than  the  Baptismal  Creed. 
This  18    "the    true    tradition   of   the   blessed 
doctrine  "  which  came  down  from  the  Apostles 
tlie  son  receiving  it  from  his  f  ither  in  God  and 
And  as  all  succession  in  Christ  from 
son  had  its  source  in  the  East,  it  fol- 
I  Apostles'  Creed,  p,  49. 
183 


father 


I 


THE  SYMBOL 

lows  that  the  Baptismal  Creed,  handed  down 
in  the  direct  Une  of  that  succession,  had  in  the 
East  its  origin.     Baptized  in  the  East  within 
about  a  half  century   of  the  passing   of  St. 
John,  IrenjBUs  got  the  Creed  there  with  his 
baptism.     He  brought  it  with  him  to  the  West, 
too,  whither  it  had  been  brought  long  before 
his  day.     And  he  assures  us  that  the  Church 
of  the   second  century,  various  as   were   the 
languages  in  which  she  spoke,  professed  her 
Baptismal  Faith,  wherever  in  all  the  world  she 
begot  children  to  God,  in  terms  of  one  and  the 
same  Apostolic  Rule  of  Truth. 

XIII. 


"  Handed 
Down  from 
TUE  Apos- 
tles." 


The  Church  in  the  East,  from 
the  fifth  century  upward,  witnes- 
ses, with  the  Church  in  the  West, 
to  the  Apostolic  authorship  of 
the  Symbol.  Some  of  the  Eastern  Fathers  give 
no  more  than  an  implicit  declaration  of  their 
mind  in  the  matter,  as  St.  John  Chrysostom, 
when  he  says  :  "  Hence  it  is  plain  that  they 
(the  Apostles)  did  not  deliver  everything  m 

184 


25 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

writing,  but  much  also  without  writing;  and 
this  too  IS  worthy  of  belief.     Wherefore,  we 
account    also    the    tradition    of   the    Church 
worthy  of  belief.     It  is  the  tradition  :    seek 
^H>thing  further."  ^3     We  have  also  explicit  tes- 
fT^ni        •  J«*»"C^««'-n^diseiple  and  deacon 
ot  fet.  Chrysostom,  bears  witness  that  the  Sym- 
bol    was  put  together  by  the  Apostles  of  the 

laith     writes  St.  Athanasius  to  Serapion,  «  as 
It  has  been  handed  down  to  us  by  the  Fathers."  ^s 
In  his  L.ber  de  Splntn  Sancto  c.  27  (Migne 
P.  G.  torn  32),  St.  Basil  enumerates  the  "  Con- 
fess,on  ^  of   Faith   in  Father,    Son,   and   Holy 
Wiost,    among  «  tlie  teachings  transmitted  in 
a  secret  manner  from  the  tradition  of  the  Ap- 
ostles.      "  May  we,  to  the  last  breath  of  life  " 
write    St.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  "confess  with 
great    confidence   that  excellent   Depocit    of 
the   holy  fathers  who  were  nearest  to   Christ: 
that  Confessioi;    of  the  primitive  Faith  which 
has  been  familiar  to  us  from  childhood,  which 

il%'"  ^^-  '  "'  '''^^^«^'  -  ^-Ho-.  IV(Mi,ne,  P.  G.. 
**  De  Incar.  Christi,  1.  6,  c  3 
«  Ep.  ad  Serap.,  n.  33  (Migne.  P  G..  torn.  26) 

185 


;i:« 


THE  SYMBOL 

we    first  uttered  and  with  which  may  wr  de- 
part this  Wie,  bearing  godUness  with  us  hence, 
this,  if  nothing  else."  ^'     Again  he   refers  to 
the  Symbol  as  "  that  excellent  Deposit  which 
we  received  from  our   fathers ;    adoring   the 
Father,  and  the  Son,  and  aie  Holy  Ghost  .  .  . 
in  whose  name  we  have  been  cleansed  in   the 
waters  of  b.ptism."  ^^     St.  Epiphanius  testii.es 
that  the  Church  "  received  the  Faith  (Symbol) 
as  a  sacred  trust   from  the  Apostles ; "  and, 
having  cited  the  xNicene  Symbol,  with  the  ad- 
dition" 01  the  articles  omitted  by  the  Council 
adds  :     "  This  Formula   of  Faith  was   handed 
down  to  us  from  the  holy  Apostles,  and  pres- 
cribed in  the  holy  city  by  all  the  Bishops,  m 
number,  three  hundred  and  eighteen."  ^»     Here 
Epiphanius  speaks  by  the  book,  for  the  Fathers 
of  Nice  did  not  draw  up  the  Symbol— that  was 
the  work  of  the  Apostles.     They  did  ^ut  de- 

r,)v  Kali/v  napaKaradr/Krjv  r,:,r  ayluv  ^a^ipi^v,  r^v  iyyvrlpu  xpi'^rov, 
ml  rfK  rpLrm  ni<yTr.>c  ">  ccvrpo<pov  W'v  H  naiS^v  o,ioM^av,  v^ 
npJvv  iUn^6,^&n,  ml  !j  rr>.vralov  cvvanfl^o^v  rcvro,  a,v  n 
a>M  evdrev&tv  ano^ep6nEvm  ryv  evcipeiav.-Orat  11,  alias  o 
(Migne,  P.  G.,  torn.  35,  col.  832). 
2T  Orat,  6,  n.  22  (Miprne,  P.  «.,  torn.  3o.) 
«  Ancoratus,  118  (Migne,  P.  G.,  torn.  43). 

186 


i,|;|l 


OF  THE  AF    --TL^S. 

fine  the   meaning  of  it  more  clearly,   and  re- 
affirm, with  all  the  authority  vested  in   them, 
the  truths  which  it  embodied.     Finally,    the' 
two    hundred   Bishops   assembled  at  Ephesus 
in    431,   in   their  IMation  to   the   Emperor 
Theodosius,   speak  of  "the  Faith  {I  e.  Sym- 
bol), o/iginally   delivered  (to  the   Church)  by 
the  Apostles,  and  afterwards  expounded  by  the 
three  hundred  and  eighteen   Fathers   in    the 
metiopolitan  city  of  Nice."  ^^     The  testimony 
of  Irenaeus  to  the  existence  in  the  East  as  well 
as  in  the  West,  in  his   day,   of  a   Baptismal 
Creed  and  Rule  of  Truth  hanJed  down  from 
the   Apostles,  has  been  cited  in  a  preceding 
article. 

At  the  fourth  General  Council  of  Chalce- 
don  (A.  D.  451),  the  Letter  ot  Pope  Leo  the 
Great  to  FlaA^ian,  Patriarch  of  Constantinople, 
was  read  to  the  assembled  prelates.  In  this' 
letter  the  Roman  Symbol  is  cited  in  sections 
word  for  word,  and  commended  as  the  comr-on 
Confession  of  all  the  baptized  on  earth.  (C/., 
above,  Chap.  II.  Sect.  1).  Directly  after  the 
reading  of  the  letter,  the  Greek  Bishops  at  the 

"  Bollandist's  Acta  Sanctorum,        15  Julii. 

187 


THE  SYMBOL 

Council  exclaimed :     "  This  is  the  Faith  of  the 
Fathers.     This  is  the  Faith  of  the  Apostles."  '° 
"  Even  more  than  this  was  done  at  the  TruUan 
Council,    the  so-called    Concilinm    quinisex- 
tiwn;'    says   Zahn.^'     "The   fathers   of   this 
coun'jil  in  their  first  canon  confess  *  that  which 
was  delivered    by  the  eye-witnesses  and  ser- 
vants of  the  Word,  the  Apostles  of  the  Church 
chosen  by  God.'     They  then  acknowledge  the 
faith   more   exactly   determined   by   the   318 
fathers  of  Nicaea  against  Arius,  as  well  as  the 
five   (Ecumenical    Councils   which    followed. 
We   can    only   understand   by  this   that   the 
Greeks  wished  to  point  to  that  confession  which 
was  in  use  among  them  as  a  baptismal  confession 
before,  and  for  a  considerable  time  after,  the 
Council  of  Nicaea,  ag  an  inheritance  from  the 
times  of  the  Apostles,  even  as  a  work  of  the 
Apostles." 


»o  Hefele,  Conzilien  ii.  440  ff.,  453  f.,  547. 

81  T/ie  Articles  of  the  Apostles'  Creed,  pp.  220,  231. 


188 


*  0 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


A  Belated 
Witness. 


XIV. 

At  page  4  of  a  now  oft-cited 
work,   Huriiaek  tells  his  readers 
that  "the    Eastern    Church    has 
at  no  time  traced  any  creed   to  an  Apostolic 
origin,  or  designated  any  as  Apostolic  in     ,ie 
strict  sense  of  tiie  word."     The  evidence  that 
has  now  been  brought  forward  in  disproof  will 
make  it  needful  for  Harnack  to  buttress  his  as- 
sertion with  some  more  substantial  prop  than 
«ie  declaration  of    .  Greek  Archbishop    at 
Florence  some  fourteen  hundred  years  after 
1  aul  preached  the  risen  Christ  to  the  men  of 
Athens. 

Harnack's  authority  is  cited  in  a  footnote,  as 
follows  :  "  Cf.  the  testimony  of  Archbishop 
Marcus  Eugenicus  at  the  Council  of  Florence 

'^'  }^f'  "^f  ^'"^^^  ^^  Sylvester  Sguropolis,' 
Hist.  Concil.  Florent.,  sect.  6,  c.  6,  p  150 
edit.  Rob.  Creyghton,  1660."  The  testimony 
of  a  fifteenth  century  witness,  is  accepted  ;  the 
testimony  of  fourth  century  witnesses,  of  Ba- 
sil, and  Gregory,  and  Epiphanius,  is  ignored, 
^reat  is  historical  criticism,  and  great  are  its 
prerogatives. 

189 


THE  SYMBOL 

We  have  traced  the  Symbol  back  to  tho 
ApostoHc  Age,  following  our  quest  in  the  East 
as  in  the  West,  along  a  trail  of  light,  m  the 
path  of  the  ancient  tradition.  It  remains  to 
point  out  vestiges  of  it  in  the  New  Testament 
and  decipher  the  allusions  to  it  which  are  to  be 
found  in  that  inspired  record. 


290 


0^;_THE  APOSTLES. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  SYMBOL  IN  THE  SECOND  CENTURY. 

I. 

It  may  be  well,  at  this  stage,    i   a  Fumsy 
to   take  some  notice   of  Profes-    ••     '^^^^»^- 

sor    McGiffert's    theory   of  the    

origin  of  the  Symbol.     On  his  hypothesis,  the 
Church  might  still  have  been  without  her  Creed 
had  not  Marcion,  driven  from  Pontus,  sought 
an  asylum  m  Rome,  some  time  after  the  middle  of 

the  second  century,  and  there  set  himself  to  teach 
a  form  of  heresy,  which  was  not,  however,  ori- 
ginal with  him.'  McGiffert  maintains  that 
the  Symbol  was  drawn  up  to  meet  the  errors 
of  Marcion.  The  work  in  which  he  essays  to 
make  good  L.m  contention  '  shows  him  to  be  a 

»  Cf.  IrensBus.  Adv.  Haer,  bk.  8.  c.  4,  n  8 

ru    ,     ^^*'^'  ^''^^'  by  Arthur  Cushman  McGiffert  • 
Charles  Scribuer's  Sons,  1002.  '«'*^an  jucuitfert : 

191 


THE  SYMBOL 

man  of  well-trained  mind,  a  man  who  has 
learned  to  think  for  himself.  He  does  not 
take  his  data  at  second  hand,  nor  does  he  let 
others  draw  the  conclusions  for  him. 

It   must   in   fairness   be  granted  that  Pro- 
fessor McGiffert  pleads  his   case  with   not  a 
little  skill.     But,  given  a  bad  case,  the  clever- 
est of  pleaders  can  do  no  more  than   make  it 
plausible  :  he   cannot   make     it   good.      The 
theory  that  the  Symbol  was  framed  to  head  off 
the  heresy  of  Marcion,  however  much  labor 
and  skill  may  be  employed  in  setting  it  up,  is 
but  a  house  of  cards,  which  '.  very  slight  putt 
of  wind  would  blow  down.     A  gust  or  two 
from  North  Africa  will  sweep  it  clean  into  the 
Adriatic. 

II. 
In  De  Praescript.  36,Tertul- 
lian   testifies    that    the    Roman 
Church   got    her    Symbol  from 
the  Apostles  Peter  and  Paul,  and  afterwards 
gave  it  to  proconsular  Africa  (cum  Africanis 
cmoque  ecdesiis  conteaserarit)     He  proceeds, 
in  the  very  n€:.t  paragraph  (37),  to  confute, 

192 


Demolished 

BY 

Teetullian. 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

after  his  own  strenuous  fashion,  the  heretics 
01  his  day  : 

If  these  things  be  so,  that  the  truth  may  be 
adjudged  to  us  as  many  as  walk  according  to 
that  Rule  which  the  Church  has  handed  down 
from  the  Apostles,  the  Apostles  from   Christ, 
Christ  from   God,  the    reasonableness  of  ou^ 
position  IS  plain,  that  heretics  are  not  to  be 
allowed  to  appeal  to  the  Scriptures,  seeing  that 
we  prove  them  without  the  Scriptures  to  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  Scriptures.  ...        To 
such  It  maybe  justly  said:    Who  are  you? 
VV  hen  and  ^yhence  came  ye  ?     Not  being  mine, 
what  do  ye  m  that  which  is  mine?     In  short 
by  what  right  dost  thou,  Marcion,  cut  down 
my  wood  ?     By  what  license  dost  thou,  Valen- 
tmus,  turn  the  course  of  my  waters  ?     By  what 
power   dost   thou,  Apelles,  remove   my  land- 
marks  ?     This  is  my  property.     Why  are  the 
rest  of  you  sowing  and  feeding  here  at  your 
pleasure  ?     Mine  is  possession  ;  I  possess  of 
old  ;  1  have  sound  title-deeds  from  the  first 
owners  whose  property  it   was.     As  they  be- 
queathed It  to  me   by  will,  as  they  left  it  in 
trust,  as  they  solemnly  charged   me  (admra' 
verunt,  gave  under  oath),  so  I  hold  it  :  you 
certainly  they  have  ever  disinherited  and  dis- 
owned as  aliens,  as  enemies.     But  whence  are 
13  193 


Mt 


THE  SYMBOL 

heretics  aUens  and  enemies  to  the  Apostles  if 
nTfrom  the  diversity  o£  doctrine,  which  they 

:rtL';z^n  accordLg  to  *f  0- -r"' 

or  receive,  in  opposition  to  the  Apostles . 

Thus  does  the  man  trained  in  the  law-schools 
„£  Carthage  conf  nte  "  Marcion  the  skipper 
fromPontus"  (IK  c.  30),  by  the  argument  of 
prescription  He  founds  this  argument  on  the 
Tosreslon  by  the  Roman  Church  of  the  Apo. 
tolic  Symbol  long  before  the  "  f  n;P«  '» 
question  crossed  the  Blaek  Sea.     He  djsalWws 

?he   appeal  to  Scripture.     The  ChnrcU   is  in 
the   appeal  r  ^^  ^  ^^^^  j^. 

possession  of  the  truth,  ot     the 

livered    to    the    saints.        She   can  F" 

"  sound  title-deeds  from  the  first  owner,  whose 

property  it  was."     She  produces  her  Apostol,^ 

Lubol      This  is  the  "rule  "and  "tessera    of 

tirorthodox  Faith,  which  the  Apostles  com- 

inted  to  her.     This,  -.St.  A^W^^:: 

-'--.-^*:.f-r:rti^ttew::rs 

nreserves  inviolate.       Ana  iui» 
&theGreat,i8"aweapon  so  cunningly 

.This  is  the  meaning  of  ''naucleru^^^^^  ^^^^^^^ 
and  8«ems  to  fit  the  context  of  this  passage 
better  than  "ship-owner.' 

194 


Hii 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

forged  iu  the  workshop  of  heaven  that  it  cuts 
ott  aU  heretical  opinions  at  one  stroke  "—  Ad 
Pulch  c.  4.     McGiffert  would  make  the  Roman 
Church  wait   tm  Marcion   had  come  and  was 
spreading  his  heresy  before  she  cast  about  for 
a  means   of  defending  the   Faith-as  if  there 
were  no  doctrinal  error  before  Marcion,  and  no 
use  for  a  Baptismal  Creed  but  to  fight  heresy 
withal!     TertuUian,   skilled   in   the   law  and 
familiar  at  first  hand   with  the    facts  of  the 
case,  represents  the    Church  to  us  as   wiser 
more  far-seeing,  and  more  faithful  in  guarding 
the  deposit.      When  she  finds  Marcion  cut- 
tmg  down  her  wood,  felling  the  trees  that  had 
been  planted  by  the  Apostles,  she  warns  him 
off,  she  bids  him  begone.     And  her  Apostolic 
Symbol  IS,  TertuUian  tells  us,   at    once    the 
weapon   with   which  she  drives  away  the  in- 
truder  and  the  deed  of  trust  whereby  she  makes 
good  her  claim  to  the  property. 


195 


THE  SYMBOL 


III. 


««  The  Skip- 
per PROM 
PONTUS. " 


In   Adv.  Marc.  v.  1,  Tertul- 

lian,  addressing  directly  and  by         

name,  this   same  "  skipper  from 
Pontus,"  (he  was  a  «  skipper  "  fyo-Po-tu^  m 
more  than  one  sense)  says  to  him:  '  H  thou 
hast  never  received  stolen  or  contraband  goods 
into  thy  schooners,  if  thou  hast  never  appro- 
priated any  of  the  cargo  to  thy  own  uses  or 
adulterated  it,  thou  art  more  careful  of  course, 
and  faithful  in  the  things  of  God.   Tell  us,  then, 
nray,  by  what  symbol  thou  hast  taken  the  teach- 
ino.  of  the  Apostle  Paul  on  board,  who  stamped 
the  label  on  it,  who  handed  it  over  to  thee,  who 
put  it  on  board,  that  thou  mayest  be  able  fear- 
lessly  to  land  it."  Marcion  held  that  the  God  re- 
vealed by  Christ  and  in  Christ  was  not  the  God 
of  the  Old  Testament,  and  mamtained  taat  bt. 
Paul  was  with  him  in  holding  this.     Tertul- 
lian  iatimates  that  "the  skipper  from  Pontus, 
who,  he  insinuates,  had  been  a  smuggler,  and 
had  been  in  the  habit  of  tatapering  with  the 
goods  that  he  carried  for  others,  is  no  more  to 
be  trusted  in  handling  the  wares  of  God  than 
the  handling  of  worldly  wares.     He  chal- 


m 


196 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

lenges  him,  therefore,  to  produce  his  bill  of 
lading  a8  a  guarantee  that  he  has  not  smug- 
gled the  doctnn,  of  the  Apostle  aboard  hi 
8h.p,  or  adulterated  it.     The  teaehin,.s  of  St 

the  Church,  as  the  Apostle  himself  belonged 
to  her.     If,  therefore,  Marcion  had  these  Jres 

r  f  !r  nu  '  f'^'P  ^^  "'"'"'''  •'«  "We  to  show 
that  the  Church  had  put  her  label  on  them  and 
consigned  them  to  him.  The  bill  of  ladir... 
would  show  this;  he  therefore  bids  .im  e^- 
Hib  t  .t.  Need  It  be  pointed  out  that  the  bill 
of  ladmg  (symbolum)  in  question  is  no  other 
than  the  Apostolic  Symbol? 

The  passage  runs  thus  in  the  original  Latin. 

"Quamobrem,  Pontice  nauelere,  si  nunauam 

cepisti,  81  nullum  onus  avert  sti  vel  adultei- 
asti,  cautior   utique  et  fidelior  in  Dei  rebus 

edasvelun  nobis  quo  symbolo  susceperlsAposto 
lum  Pau  urn,  quis  ilium  tituli  charactereXl^ 
sent,  qu.s  transmiserit  tibi,  quis  imposuerit  ut 
possis  eum  constanter  cxponere."    ^  ^"^"''  "* 

It  is  true  that  the  context  shows  it  to  have 
been  the  God   of  the  Old  Testament,  who 

197  ' 


Il 


THE  SYMBOL 

according  to  TertuUian,  would  have  to  con- 
Tn  S  .  Paul  and  hU  teaching  to  "  the  skipper 
rn.Pont«s."     But  as  TertuUian  everywhere 
insists   that,   in    controverted    <!»-''<>-;*« 
,  appeal  does  not  lie  to  Scripture,  and  that  he 
cCh  alone  has  the  office  of  guarding    he 
Sure,  and  guaranteeing  it  to  men  a.  Ae 
Word  of  God,  it  is  only  through  the  Church 

I:..eOodofthe2«rof"> 
llrr^1ynl:^i*^Hesaule     Itw. 

S  the  "Father  Almighty"  of  the  Symbol 
;tthe"skipper"hadenterediutote'agre. 

ment "     But  he  had  tampered  with  the  goods, 
rtrUngtheKpUtlesofSt^aJ^^^^^^^ 

Tif ritrmfofts  ^agreement"  or 

"covenant     (symDoi;  witii  j^^^n^ 

«ould  not  venture  to  produce  it  »"  " 
because  it  would  bear  witness  against  him.  In 
Swords,  he  could  not  land  the  adulterated 

goods  "constanter,"  that  IS  fearlessly. 


198 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


IV. 


m 


Trenaeus,  too,  bears  direct  testi-   j   The  Pre- 
mony  to  the  pre-Marcionite  axis-    i  confeTsion^ 

tence  of   the  Symbol,  over  and    ' 

above  the  indirect  testimony  that  is  impUed 
in  his  witnessing  to  its  Apostolic  origin.  "  As 
for  Cerdon,"  he  writes  (Bk.  3,  c.  4,  n.  3), 
"who  was  before  Marcion,  he  too  under  Hygi- 
nus,  who  was  ninth  Bishop,  came  to  the  Church, 
made  his  confession,  and  so  continued,  some- 
times teaching  privily,  sometimes  again  doing 
penance,  and  sometimes  under  censure  for  the 
evil  he  was  teaching,  and  separated  from  the 
assembly  of  the  brethren.  And  Marcion  suc- 
ceeding him  flourished  under  Anicetus  who 
occupied  the  tenth  (eleventh)  place  in  the  Episco- 
pate." The  form  of  words,  "  made  his  con- 
fession," does  not,  at  least  in  the  formal  and 
first  intention  of  Irenaeus,  bear  the  sense  here 
that  it  has  in  current  Catholic  use.  It  means 
to  make  a  formal  profession  of  Faith,  and  such 
a  profession  supposes  a  fixed  formula  already 
existing  in  Rome  before  the  man  from  Pontus 
ever  set  foot  there. 

199 


THE  SYMBOL 


Si 


mm 


This  is  more  evident  from  the  words  of  the 
Greek  original,  a  fragment  of  which  fortun- 
ately remains  at  this  point.     '£xxA,^c«.  tkOw.,  xal 

k^oiiokoyof^lisvoi,  ourux}  durzUaSy  r.ozk  iikv  XaOpoSidaaxnXmv^ 
noT£   de   xdXiv    l^o/iokoym'^/ievoi.      The    Verb    s^niioXoyllv 

means  to  "  make  a  full  confession,"  whether  of 
sins,  or  of  the  Faith,  or  what  not,  is  to  be 
gathered  from  the  context.     The  context  here 
shows  that  Oerdon  made  at  least  a  confession 
of  the  Faith.     "  He   came   to   the   [Roman] 
Church  [from  Syria],  made  his  profession,  and 
so    continued,   now    teaching     [his    heresy] 
secretly,  now  making   anew   his   profession." 
It  is  with  Cerdon's  doctrinal  standing,  not  with 
his  moral  status  otherwise,  that  ^cenaeus  is  con- 
cerned ;  for  his  whole  work,  as  the  title  itself 
witnesses,   is    directed   against   heresy.      His 
TToiAtv  i^ofiu/oyotyiew?  is  therefore  to  be  rendered 
"  making  again  a  profession  of  the  Faith,"  or 
"  recanting  his  errors,"  and  not  simply  "  again 
doing   penance,"   as   Keble   has   it.      Would 
Irenseus   deem  it   worth    while   stating   that 
Cerdon,  who  had  come  from  the  East  to  Rome, 
went  to  confession  there  ?     And  who  would 
care  to  know  whether  he  did  or  not  ?     The 

200 


M 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


I' 


I 


second   i^o,xoh,Yo0iM,,oi    ^eans    what    the   first 
means,   as  ^a/lfv  attests ;   and   the   whole   drift 
and  purpose  of  Irenseus  indicates  that  the  first 
has  to  do  with  Faith,  at  least  primarily.     Add 
to  this  that  the  "  confession,"   which  Cerdon 
made  the  second  time  was  called  for  by  reason 
of  his  having  taught  his  errors   secretly  after 
he  had  made  the  first.     Now,  the   very  first 
thing  that  one  who  had  taught  false  doctrine 
would  have  to  do,  before  being  reconciled  to 
the  Church,  would  be  to  recant  his  errors  and 
profess  the  true  Faith.     It  would  be  interest- 
ing to  know  what  Harnack   would  make  of 
r,o,.aor„o,.v.„  i„  this  passage.     The  matter  of 
course  way  in  which  Irenaeus  uses  the  word 
implies   that  the   people  of  Gaul,  for   whom 
particularly   he  wrote,  were  famHiar  with  the 
6^okoYia  in  question. 


V. 


In  his  great  work,  De  Pre- 
scriptionibus  Tertulh'an  rests  his 
whole  case  against  heresy  upon 
the  prior  possession  by  the  Church  of  "  the 

201 


The  Oath  of 
Allegiance. 


THE  SYMBOL 

Faith   once   delivered   to  the    saints."     And 
this  prior  possession  he  proves  by  her  Sym- 
bol, which  is  the  deed  of  trust  she  got  from 
the   Apostles.     The  whole  argument   of   the 
book   assumes  the  existence   of    the  Symbol 
from  the  beginning.     By  the  Apostohc  Sym- 
bol men  were  known  lu  be  in  communion  with 
the  Church  of  the  Apostles,  which  was  one. 
And  the  Symbol  was  guarded  by  theDisciphne 
of  the   Secret,   whence   it   got   the  name   ot 
«  sacran^entum,"  that  is,  "oath,"   "mystery, 
«  secret  "     Le^,  me  cite  one  or  two  passages  in 
point.     "  Thus,"   he  writes  (/&.,  c.  ^20),  "  so 
many   Churches   and  so   great   are   that   one 
primitive  Church  from  the  Apostles,  whence 
all   have   sprung..      AH   by   one   prove   their 
unity.     Between  all  there  is  the  communica- 
tion of  peace,  and  the  greeting  one  another  as 
brethren,  and   the  interchange  of  hospitality 
through  the  Symbol  {con 'esser alio  hospitali- 
tatm).     And  no  other  principle  governs  these 
privileges  but  the  one  (common)  tradition  ot 
the  same  mystery  {ejusdem   sacramenti   una 
traditio)r     In  military  language  "  sacramen- 
turn"  meant,  in  the   olden  time,  "the   pre- 

202 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

liminary  engagement  entered  into  by  newly 
enlisted  troops ;"  also,  "the  military  oath  of 
allegiance."  ^  No  word  could  better  express 
the  purposes  of  the  Symbol,  which  was  the 
preUminary  engagement  entered  into  by  the 
neophyte  or  newly  enlisted  soldier  of  Christ  in 
the  Church  Militant,  and  was  professed,  as  we 
have  seen,  in  baptism  with  an  oath  of  fealty  to 
Christ  and  to  His  Church.  It  was  also  "  sac- 
ramentum  "  in  three  of  the  four  meanings 
which  the  w^rd  bears  in  ecclesiastical  Latin. 
It  came  within  the  Discipline  of  the  Secret, 
and  w-  ';herefore  a  "  secret."  For  "  to  hide 
the  s.  X  of  a  king  "  (Tob.  12  :  7)  the  Vul- 
gate ha  "sacramentum  regis  abscondere."  It 
enshrineu  the  mysteries  of  the  Faith,  and 
therefore  was  itself,  by  a  common  figure  of 
speech,  a  "  mystery."  "  And  evidently  great 
is  the  mystery  of  godliness,"  says  St.  Paul 
(1  Tim.  3  :  16),  where  the  Vulgate  reads  "  sac- 
ramentum pietatis."  Once  more,  the  Symbol 
was  the  whole  revelation  of  God  in  a  com- 
pendious form,  and  was  therefore  fittingly 
called  "  the  gospel  revelation,"  which  is  the 

*  Cf.  Harper's  Freund's  Latin  Dictionary. 

203 


'ill 

.Ml 


! 


THE  SYMBOL 


»» 


meaning  of  "  sacramentum  "  in  a  passage  in 
Prude'atir?>.5 

VI. 


The  Chris- 
tian Pass- 
word. 


The  expression  "  ejusdera  sac- 
ramenti  una  traditio,"  in  the  pas- 
sage  cited  above,   may  be   ren- 
dered "  the  exchange  of  the  same  password." 
When    the   little    army  of   Christ,   sworn  to 
make  war  on  sin  and  error  only,  moved  out 
from  Jerusalem  to  subdue  the  world,  its  pass- 
word was  the  Symbol.     "We   are   called  to 
the  warfare  of  the  living  God,"  says  Tertullian 
(Ad.  Marty.  3)  "  from  the   moment  that  we 
return  the  passwoi  i  {cam  in  sacramentl  verba 
eMpondimus)."     This  password    it   was  that 
^   i^overned"    the    "privileges"    specified  by 
him,  namely,  "the  communication   of  peace, 
the  greeting  of  brethren,  and  the  interchange 
of  hospitality,"  in  the  early  Church.     The  pil- 
grim from  afar  gave  the   Symbol,  and  got  in 
return   the  salutation   of  peace,  the  name  of 
brother,  the   privileges  of  the  welcome  guest. 
So  we  read  further  on  that  heretics  "  are  not 

» Cf .  the  Dictionary  above  cited. 

204 


->,"■-;#■ 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

received   into  peace  and  communion    by  the 
Churches  that  are  In  any  way  Apostolic  [i.  e. 
as  having  been   founded  by  an    Apostle    or 
mothered  by  such  as  were  so  founded],  pre- 
cisely because  of  the  diversity  of  their  Symbol 
m  no  wise  Apostolic  {oh  dwersitatem  sacra- 
menti  nullo  modo  apostoliciy^   When  heresy 
unfurled  its  banner  of  revolt,  it  corrupted  the 
Symbol  of  the  Faith.     This  is  what  Irenaeus 
implies  when  he  teUs  us  that  «  by  no  Rule  of 

»  !i;It^T-  °-  ^V    ^'^'■"'°"  ^PP^^'-^  ^  have  openly 
it  nTnl       "'r.  "^'  """''  ""'  ^^'''''"  ^«  Tertullian  puts 
o  thfrn  ^',     ^"  T'^  '*'"^  °"'  ^»"'«  Valentinus  kept 
L    *^^^,^"'-«''  «  ^ar  but  broke  it  to  her  hopes.    Irenaeus 
indeed,  tells  us  as  much  (Adv.  Haer.,  bk.  4  ;  c.  33^1"; 

bl  L  TT'i-"  '^^'' •'"'•*  *'^^^  ""^«'-«  «re  t^o  Gods 
(n.  2).  On  the  other  hand,  those  who  belong  to  Valen- 
Fath«;  ;nrn  !.''"''  *^"^"^  they  confess  one  God  the 
t^t  M^V  .  n'  V"^  °^  """'  "»^y  nevertheless  say  that 
this  Maker  of  all  things  is  Himself  the  fruit  of  defection 

onfl!^^'  r'*'°'!'^«'»*°"«'-.  confessing  with  their  ton,?ue 
one  Lord  Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of  God,  while  yet  in  thdr 

^ottr.  ".r":"  r  •^''•'^^"'  ^'--*'-  *-  *•-  ^myZ 

got  en  another  to  the  Word,  one  to  the  Christ,  another 
to  the  Saviour,  .  their  tongues  alone  tend  toward 

unity But  they  shall  be  accused  by  a  prophet  of 

hZZ"'  "'^"  ''""^•••*  •  •  "»"•-  -ords^are.Vr  he  is 
hateful  to  me  even  as  the  gates  of  hell  who  hides  one  thing 
m  hxs  heart  and  utters  another  "  (n.  8). 

205 


Z :  *■ 


THE  SYMBOL 

the  heretics  was  the  Word  of  God  made  flesh" 
(Bk.  3  ;  c.  11 ;  3).     Or,  if  heretics  kept  the 
Symbol,  they  kept  the  letter  and  »»  ^e  ^mt 
of  it.     "When  you  tempt   them  [Ae  Valen- 
tinians]  subtly,"  says  TertulUan  Adv^  » 
I)  "by  double-tongued  ambiguity  they  affirm 
the  common  Faith."     St.  Cypr«.n  says  of  he 
partisans  of  Novatian  that  they  had  .ndeed  he 
Lme  Symbol,  b„    not  "  the  same  law  of  the 
Symbol,"  as  CathoUcs  (Ep.  69.  7). 


Vll. 


ThbFcnda- 
HGNTAL  Law. 


To  TertuUian  the  Symbol  is 
« lex  fidei,"  the  law  and  norm  o£ 
■CaUVi      When    we    **  enter    the 
li;-   he   says,   and  profess  the  Chnsfan 
;  ^^n  the  wU  of  its  law   (c  m*.n«m 

with  our  lips  that  we  have  renounced  the  devJ, 
[Upomp,  Ld  his  angels"'    He  can  no  more 
conceive  of  the  Church  without  her  Symbo 
:,..  he  can  concave  ^f  .vU  soe^  without 
its  fundamental  law.     Ana  as  x^n" 


'  De  Spect.  4. 


S06 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

is  the  Founder  of  the  Church,  which  rests  on 
Faith  as  her  fundamental  law,  so,  according  to 
TertuUian,  Christ,  the  Author  and  Finisher  of 
the  Faith,  is  the  Author  of  the  Symbol  also. 
This  does  not  prevent  him  from  holding  at  the 
same  time  and  affirming  that  the  Apostles  are 
the  authors  of  the  Symbol.  Christ  is  the 
Founder  of  t^>e  Church,  yet  the  Apostles  also 
are  her  f oun  .rs.  Christ  laid  the  foundation, 
the  Apostles  built  upon  it ;  "  For  no  one  can 
lay  another  foundation  but  that  which  is  laid, 
which  is  Christ  Jesus"  (1  Cor.  3  :  11).  So 
Christ  laid  the  foundation  of  the  Symbol,  the 
Trinitarian  Formula,  and  the  Apostles  built 
upon  it.  In  short,  we  may  say  of  the  Church, 
her  Symbol,  and  her  Sacraments,  that  Christ 
laid  the.  foundations  and  gave  specific  direc- 
tions how  the  work  should  be  done  ;  the 
Apostles  did  but  build  upon  the  foundations 
laid  by  Him,  and  faithfully  carry  out  His 
directions. 


807 


THE  SYMBOL 


VIII. 


Evidence 
Subjective 

AND 

Objective. 


Any  one  who  keeps  these  dis- 
tinctions in  view  will  see  how  Ter- 
tullian  can  say  that  "  this  Kule," 
i.e.  the  Symbol,  "  was  instituted 
by  Christ^"  while  affirming  also  that  the 
Apostles  were  "  the  authors  "  of  it.^  McGiffert 
(p.  64)  says  that  in  this  latter  passage  "  the 
word  regula  evidently  refers,  not  to  any  def- 
inite creed  or  symbol,  but  to  the  gospel 
preached  by  both  "  the  Twelve  and  St.  Paul. 
The  adverb  "evidently"  is  used  here  in  a 
purely  subjective  sense.  The  objective  evi- 
dence is  all  the  other  way.  Here  is  a  literal 
translation  of  the  passage : 

"  Even  if  Marcion  had  brought  in  his  Gospel 
in  Paul's  own  name,  the  document  by  itself 
alone  (sin'gularitas  Instrumenti)  would  not  be 
enough  to  win  our  belief,  without  the  support 

*  De  Praesc,  c.  14. 

Adv.  Marc,  iv.  2.  At  page  49,  Burns  says :  "  He  (Ter- 
tuUian)  traces  its  (the  Syrabol's)  origin  in  the  teaching 
of  Christ,  without  showing  any  acquaintance  with  the 
later  legend  (sic)  of  its  composition  by  the  apostles." 
This  does  not  indicate  any  wide  or  careful  reading  of 
Tertullian  on  the  author's  part. 

208 


OF  THE  AP0STLE8. 

of  those  going  before.  For  there  would  be 
required  the  Gospel  which  Paul  found,  in  which 
he  believed,  and  [that]  with  which  he  presently 
rejoiced  to  find  his  own  in  agreement.  And  in 
fa3t,  for  this  reason  he  went  up  to  Jerusalem 
to  make  the  acquaintance  of  the  Apostles  and 
to  consult  with  them,  lest  perhaps  he  had  run  in 
vain  (Gal.  2  :  1.),  that  is,  lest  his  faith  and  his 
preaching  should  not  be  in  accordance  with 
theirs.  In  fi .. ,  he  conferred  and  agreed  as 
with  its  authors  about  the  Kule  of  Faith  ;  they 
gave  him  the  right  hand  of  fellowship,  and 
thereupon  apportioned  the  task  of  preaching, 
they  going  unto  the  Jews  and  Paul  going  unto 
the  Jews  and  Gentiles." 


*1 


IX. 


The  Rule 
OP  Faith. 


Marcion  rejected  the  Gospel  of 
Matthew,  of  Mark,  and  of  John. 
He  received  the  Gospel  of  Luke, 
but  only  to  mutilate  it.  TertuUian  argues 
that,  as  St.  Paul  had  to  get  the  Gospel 
which  he  preached  accredited  by  the  older 
Apostles,  much  more  would  the  Gospel  written 
by  Paul's  disciple,  Luke,  need  to  be  accredited 
by   them.      There   are    several   reasons   why 

209 


THE  SYMBOL 

regulafidei  in  this  passage  can  mean  only  the 
Symbol.     (1)  The  context  seems  to  exclude 
any  other  meaning.     In  the  preceding  sentence 
TertuUian  says  that  St.  Paul  consulted  with 
the  Apostles  about  "  his  faith  and  his  preach- 
ing," i.  e.  the  Gospel  that  he  preached.     Is  it 
at  all  likely  that  a  writer  who  is  scarce  less 
niggard  of  his  words  than  Tacitus  would  re- 
peat  the   same   thing  in  the   very  next  sen- 
tence?    But   this  is  just  what  he  did  if  we 
understand   regula  fidci,   with  McGiffert,  to 
mean  "  gospel."     The  fact  seems  to  be  that 
TertuUian  wants  Marcion   (or  rather  his  dis- 
ciples) to  understand  that  St.  Paul,  and  there- 
fore St.  Luke,  too,  not  only  preached  the  same 
Gospel  as  the  Twelve,  but  also  followed  the 
Symbol  of   Faith  which  the  Twelve   had   de- 
livered to  tlie  Church,  "every  clause"  of  it  as 
he  says  elsewhere.'" 

(2).  The  Gospel  is  not  a  Rule  of  Faith,  and 
is  not  therefore  the  regulafidei  spoken  of  by 
TertuUian  in  this  passage.  The  Gospel  is  the 
whole  revelation  of  God  in  Christ,  the  res  ere- 
denda  or  body  of  truths  to  be  believed,  not 

w  De  Praeac,  c.  27. 

210 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

the  lex  credendi,  or  rule  of  belief.  The  Sym- 
bol, on  the  other  hand,  is  a  lex  credendi  or 
regulafidei,  first  because  it  embodies  just  such 
and  so  many  Gospel  truths  as  the  law  of  Christ, 
promulgated  by  the  Apostles,  makes  it  obliga- 
tory on  all  Christians  to  believe  explicitly  and 
profess;  secondly,  because  it  serves  as  the 
"rule  "  or  standard  of  orthodoxy  in  the  Chris- 
tian Church. 

(3).  McGiffert  makes  it  abundantly  evident 
that  "regula  "  is  not  always  used  by  Tertullian 
of  a  definite  creed.     In  the  passage  that  we 
are  now  dealing  with,  however,  the  expression 
is,  not  "regula,"  but  "  regula  fidei."     Now,  I 
make  bold   to   affirm   two   things,  first,   that 
TertuUian   nowhere  else  speaks  of  the  Gospel 
as  "regula  fidei ;  "  and  second,  that  wherever 
else  he  uses  "  regula  fidei"  it  denotes,  if  not 
the  Creed  (which  it  does  in  every  case  but  one), 
at  least  a  creed  or  formulary  of  faith.     The 
proof  of  this  latter   statement  involves,  as  is 
obvious,  the  proof  of  the  former.     The  ex- 
pression   "  regula  fidei  "    occurs  twice   in  De 
Praesc.  (chaps.  12   and  13),  once  in   Ado. 
Prax.  (c.  3),  once  in  De  Virg,    Vel  (c.  1), 

211 


THE  SYMBOL 

once  in  De  Monocjamia  (c.  2),  once  in  Adv. 
31arcionem  (IV.  n.  36),  once  in  Be  Jejunio 
(c.  1),  and  lastly  in  the  passage  under  consid- 
eration  (Adv.    Marc.  IV.  2).     If  it  occurs 
anywhere  else,  I  at  least  have  been  unable  to 
find  it.     Well,  in  the  first  six  cases  it  stands 
for  the  Symbol ;  in  the  seventh,  for  a  symbol 
or  creed.     In  the  sixth  place  (Adv.  Marc.  IV. 
36),  "  reward  "  is  coupled  with  "  rule  "  of  the 
faith.     But  the  allusion  to  the  "  Virgin  "  and 
her  descent  from  David   (whence  our  Lord  is 
the  "  Son  of  David  ")  in  the  very  next  sen- 
tence, suggests  at  once  the  "  Virgin"  of  the 
Creed.     In  the   seventh   place   {De  Jejumo), 
the  words  are,  «  rule  of  faith  or  hope."     He 
says  thatMontanus  and  Priscilla  and  MaximiUa 
do  not  "  preach  another  God  [as  Marcion  did], 
nor  divide  Jesus  Christ  (1  Jo.  4  :  3),  nor  over- 
turn  any  rule  of  faith  or  hope,  but  teach  for- 
sooth that  we  should  fast  oftener  than  marry." 
(This  is  sarcastic ;  Tertullian  is  by  this  time  a 
Montanist,   and   here   defends   their    tenets). 
The   reference   is  to   "a   symbol"  {allquam 
regidam,  not  to  the  Symbol.     But  even  here 
«  regula  fidei "  denotes  at  least  a  creed  or  f  or- 

312 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


mulary  of  faith  j  it  certainly  does  not  denote 
the  Gospel.  Our  conchision,  therefore,  stands 
that  "  regula  fidei "  in  Ado.  Marcionem  IV. 
2.  means  the  Symbol,  and  that  Tertullian  as- 
cribes the  authorship  of  it  to  the  Twelve. 


X. 


Meanino  of 
"  Regula." 


With  Tertullian  "  regula  fidei " 
is  the  Creed.     He  often  calls  it 
"  regula  "  for  short.     But  "  reg- 
ula "    has    also    other    meanings.      Whether 
it  signifies  the  Creed  in  a  given  case,  therefore, 
is   to   be  gathered  from  the   text  of  the  pas- 
sage and  the  context.     There  is   a  passage  in 
Adv.  3Iarc.  1.  20  which  Kattenbusch  cites  in 
support  of  his  thesis   that   the   Old  Roman 
Creed  was  drawn  up  before  Marcion's   time 
It  runs  :  «  They  [his  disciples]  say  that  Mar- 
cion  did  not  so  much  innovate  upon  the  Rule, 
by  his  severance  of  the  Gospel  from  the  Law' 
as  restore  the  Rule  that  had  been  adulterated 
in  the  time  going  before."     McGiffert  takes 
issue  with  Kattenbusch  here  ;  he  has  to  prove 
the  la     "'s  reading  of  the  passage  wrong,  or 
the  theory  that  he  has  been  at  so  much  pains 

213 


THE  SYMBOL 


li 


to  prop  up   collapses  utterly.     He   succeeds, 
indeed,  in  showing  that  "  regulam,"  of  itself, 
need  not  mean  the  Symbol  here,  but  he  fails 
completely  to  find  any  other  meaning  for  it  that 
will  fit.     He  tells  us  that  *'  an  examination  of 
the   context  makes  it   evident   that  he  [Ter- 
tullian]  is  thinking  not  of  a  creed  but  rather  of 
the  Canon  of  Scripture."   Here,  again,  the  word 
"  evident  "  has  no  objective  value.     On  the  con- 
trary, it  is  evident,  or  ra<^^er   clearly  demon- 
strable, that  TeituUian  is  tln.iking  of  the  Creed, 
not  of  the  Canon  of  Scripture.      The  Canon  of 
Scripture  embraced,  first  of  all,  the  books  of  the 
Old  Testament,  and  these  Marcion  rejected  every 
How,  then,  could  his  disciples  say  that 


one. 


he  had  not  so  much  innovated  upon  this  Rule  as 
restored  it  to  its  pristine  form,  when  all  the  world 
knew  that  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  were 
in  the  Canon  centuries  before  a  word  of  the 
First.Gospel  was  witten  ?  On  the  other  hand, 
there  was,  properly  speaking,  no  Canon  of 
the  New  Testament,  in  Teitullian's  time,  which 
could  be  appealed  to  as  a  "  regula."  Nor 
would  Tertullian,  in  any  case,  admit  the  Scrip- 
ture, or  any  part  of  it,  as  his  "  regula." 

2U 


H  I 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

The  context  bhows   that  "regiila,"  in   this 
passage,  means  the  Gospel.     But  it  does  not 
mean  the  Gospel  as  preached  by  the  Apostles, 
for  thus  the  Gospel,  instead  of  being  a  "  rule," 
is  itself,  as  has  been  already  pointed   out,  sub- 
ject  matter   of    the   "rule."     "Faith,"   says 
Tertullian  himself,  "  is  set  in  a  Rule— Fides 
.  i  rey  ulaposiio  est"  »     Moreover,  a  nde,  from 
the  nature  of  the  case,  must  be  something  that 
is  available  for  everyday  use.     But  how  could 
the  preaching  of  the  Apostles  be  made  use  of 
in  this  way,  or  ev.in  be  known  to  the  faithful 
of  the  post-apostoUc   age?     There   was   only 
one  way  in  which  they  could  know  it— aside 
from   the  New   Testament,  which   Tertullian 
does  not  acknowledge  as  his  "  regula  " — and 
that  was  Apostolic  Tradition.     Now  the  whole 
preaching  of  the  Apostles  did  not  come  down 
through  this  channel,  at  least  in  a  fixed  and 
compact  form  that  would  serve  as  a  Rule  of 
Faith.     But  the  gist  of  it,  set  forth  in  terms 
of  the  Apostles'  own  choosing,  came  down  in 
the  "summary  of  sound  words"  (2  Tim.  1: 
13)  known  as  the  Symbol.     This  it  is  that  St. 
"  De  Praesc,  c  14. 

215 


THE  SYMBOL 

Clement  of  Alexandria  describes  as  "  the  know- 
ledge, in  a  brief  and  compendious  form,  of  those 

things  that  are  necessary  to  be  known " 

« Fo"^  this,"  says  Irenseus,  and  his  words  are 
wholly  to  our  purpose,  « is  the  essence  {^^^^ori,) 
of  the  Apostolic  doctrine  and  of  the  most  holy 
Faith  which  was  delivered  to  us,  which  the 
unlettered  receive,  and  men  of  small  learning 
taught,  who  give  not  heed  to  endless  genea- 
loo-ies,  but  rather  give  diligence  for  the  amend- 
ment of  their  life,  lest  they,  deprived  of  the 
Divine  Spirit, miss  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.'  '=^ 
This,  then,  as  Kattenbusch  rightly  inferred,  is 
that    "regulam"    which    Marcion    innovated 
upon,— the  "  regulam  "  which  proclaims  one 
"  God  the  Father  Almighty,  and  Christ  Jesus, 
His  only  Son,  our  Lord."     For  this  was  the 
head  and  front  of  Marcion's  offending  agamst 
the  Faith,  that  he  declared  Christ  was  not  the 


13  Paed.  1.6;  c.  10.  ^^^,t       kka     a« 

iBWorks  (translation by Keble)  Frag.  XXXV.  p.  554.  Ap- 
ropos of  e:r.Aoy>)  rendered  "  essence,"  Keble  says :  As  the 
verb  is  used  of  picked  men,  I  have  ventured  to  trans- 
late the  noun  thus,  as  though  the  very  cl^oice  part^  And 
ceitainly  the  "  medulla  Fidei,"  the  very  marrow  of  the 
Faith  is  contained  in  the  Symbol. 

216 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

Son   of  the   Father    Almighty   "shamelessly 
blaspheming,"   says  Irenaeus,"  '*  Him   who  is 
declared  God  by  the  Law  and  the  Prophets ; 
affirming  Him  to  be  an  evil-doer,  and  fond  of 
wars,  and   inconstant   also  in  His  judgment, 
and  contrary  to  Himself;    and  as  for "jesus' 
that  He  came  from  that  Father  who  is  above 
the  God  who  made  the  world,  into  Jud«a  in 
the    time   of    Pontius   Pilate    the   Governor, 
Tiberius  Caesar's  Procurator,  and  was  manifest 
m  human  form  to  the  inhabitants  of  Judaea, 
to  do  away  the  Prophets  and  the  Law  and  all 
the  works  of  that  God  who  made  the  world, 
^'■iom  he  also  calls  Ruler  of  the  world  (Cos- 
mocratorem)." 


XL 

The  Marcionites  seem  to  have    :    A  Guess. 

affirmed  (aiunt)    what  historical     

criticism  affirms  to-day,  though  for  a  different 
reason,  that  the  primitive  Creed  was  the 
simplest  of  simple  formularies,  being  but  a 
profession  of  belief  in  the  Father,  Son,  and 

"lb.  bk.  1;  c.  37;  n.  2. 

217 


THE  SYMBOL 

Holy  Spirit,  in   the  very  words   of   the  com- 
mission given   by  our  Lord  to  the  Apostles 
(Matt.   28:   28),   without    addition    of     any 
sort.     Such  a  Creed  would   have   lent   itself 
admirably  to  Marcion's  pui-pose,   who  might 
have  maintained  with  some  degree  of  plausi- 
bility that    it  was    Christ's    own  Creed,  that 
r.a.ro.piropa  of   the    first    article  was  an    un- 
warranted addition,  and  therefore  that  he  did 
not  so  much  innovate   upon  the  Rule  of  Faith 
as  restore  it  to  its  simple  and   pristine  form. 
This  guess  (it    purports   to  be    no    more)  is 
strongly  supported  by  the  context.     For  Ter^ 
tullian  goes  on  to  say  that  the  disciples  of 
Marcion  "  point  to  the  fact  that  Peter  and  the 
other  pillars  of  the   Apostolate  were  brought 
to  book  by  Paul  (Gal.  2)  because  they  did  not 
walk  the  straight  way  of  truth  in  the  Gospel.' 
For  Marcion,  be  it  borne  in  mind,  mamtamed 
that  St.  Paul  was  with  him  in   severing  the 
Gospel  from  the  Law,  and,  with  a  view  of  mak- 
ing good  his  contention,  mutilated  Paul's  Epis- 
ties,  as  Iren^us  bears  witness,  «  by  taking  out 
whatever  is  plainly  spoken  by  the   Apostle  of 
the  God  who  made  the  world,  how  that  He  is 

218 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


anu 


the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  CL  hi  ,  ..,„. 
whatsoever  out  of  the  prophetic  witings  the 
Apostle  hath  quoted  in  his  teaching  as  ^.le- 
dictive  of  the  coming  of  the  Lord."  '^ 


Am  \ 


CONVEIiTED 
INTO    A 

Certainty. 


XIL 

TertuUian  shows  that  the  pas- 
sage in  Gal.  2,  cited  by  the  Mar- 
cionites,    does    not     bear    them 
out.     The  issue  between  Paul  and  the  other 
Apostles,  he  observes,  turned  on  a  point  of  dis- 
cipline merely  ;  "the  faith  in  the  Creator  and 
His  Christ  was  never  in  question.     For,  had 
this  been    in   question,  it  would  figure  prom- 
inently in  the  writings  of  the  Apostle  (Paul).'"^ 
He  then  clinches  his  case  with  an  argument 
that  converts  the  guess  with  which  we  have 
started  out  into  a  certainty,  and  once  more  re- 
veals the  firm  persuasion  of  the  Christians  of 
that  day  that  the  Symbol  had   been  handed 
down  from  the  Apostles.     Here  are  his  words  : 


"Bk.  1;  c.  27;n.  2. 
"  Adv.  Marc.  1.  1 ;  c.  21. 


219 


THE  SYMBOL 


Now,  if  after  the  time  of  the  Apostles  the 
truth  got  adulterated  in  respect  of  the  rule  of 
God,  then  Apostolic  tradition  in  the  time  of 
the   Apostles  themselves  was   still    incorrupt 
touching  this  Rule  ;  and  no  tradition  can  be 
admitted  as  Apostolic  save  that  which  is  set 
forth  to-day  in  the  Apostolic   Churches.     But 
you  will  find  no  Church    of  Apostolic  rating 
that  does  not  christen  in  the  Creator  (quae 
non   in   Creatore    christianizet).     Or,  if  the 
Apostolic  Churches    were    corrupt  from    the 
beo-inning,  where  shall  sound  ones  be  found  ? 
Those    opposed    to    the    Creator,  forsooth  ? 
Produce,  tlien  a  Church  of  yours  that  is  rated 
as  Apostolic,  and  you  will  have  made  out  youi 
case.     [This  the    Marcionite  could   not   do]. 
Since,  then,  it  is  in  every  way  clear  that  there 
was  no  other  God  but  the  Creator  in  the  Rule 
of  that  sacrament  {in  regulce  sacramentiistius) 
from  the  time  of  Christ   to  the   time  of  Mar- 
cion,  our  position  is  now  made  secure  enough  : 
we  have  shown  that  the  belief  in  the  God  of 
the  heretic  [Marcion]  dates  from  the  severance 
[by  Marcion]  of  the  Gospel  from  the  Law. 

How  could  it  be  shown  that  no  Church  of 

Apostohc  rating,  as  TertuUian  words   it,  was 

to  be   found  which    did   not   christen   in   the 

Creator  ?     Not  by  the    'f«-/"^?  of   the  Baptis- 

220 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

mal  Formula,  which  Marcion  could  interpret 

in  his    own     sense,  but    bj    the     ::aripa   ^a.ro.pd 

ropa  of  what  Tertallian  here  calls  the  "Rule 
of  the  Sacrament,"  i.  e.  the  Baptismal  Creed. 
And  this  Rule  Tertullian  proves  by  the  tradi- 
tion of  the  Apostolic  Churches  to  have  existed, 
speaking  broadly,  "  from  the  time  of  Christ." 
To   sum   up    Tertullian's    argument.     The 
Marcionites  maintain  (aiunt)  that  their  founder 
did  not  lamper  mth  the  Rule  of  Faith,  but 
rather  restored  to  its  pristine  form  the  Rule 
which  the  Twelve  had  tampered    with.     For 
proof  they  point  to  the  passage         Gal.    2. 
TertulHan  shows  that  the  dispute  red  to 

in  this  passage  concerned  discipHne  merely, 
and  that  St.  Paul  preached  the  same  doctrine 
as  the  Twelve.  He  next  shows  that  this  doc- 
trine was  anti-Marcionite.  How  does  he  do  this  i 
By  means  of  the  Apostolic  Symbol.  All  the 
Apostolic  Churches  "  christen  in  the  Creator,"  a 
fact  which  is  attested  by  the  Symbol  or  «  Rule 
of  the  Sacrament,"  and  only  by  the  Symbol. 
His  adversaries  might  still  maintain,  however, 
that  "after  the  time  of  the  Apostles  the  truth 
got  adulterated  in  respect  of  the  Rule  of  God." 

221 


:if. 

ii:  1 


THE  SYMBOL 

But  surely  not  in  all  the  Apostolic  Churches, 
is  Tertullian's  answer  (though  not  very  clearly 
expressed),  else  has  tlie  truth  perished  from 
the  face  of  the  earth.     Either  the  Apostolic 
Churches  hold  the  true  Faith,  or   there  is  no 
true   Faith   to   be   found   anywhere.     If   the 
Marcionites  could  point  to  even  one  Apostolic 
Church  which  christened  in  God  or  m  the  Father 
simply,  and  not  in  the  Father  Almighty,  Tertul- 
lian  would  be  willing   to  grant   that  they  had 
gone  some  way  toward  making  out  their  case. 
«  But  since  it  is  clear  that  there  was  no  other 
God  but  the  Creator  in  the  Rule  of  the  Sacra- 
ment from  the  time  of  Christ  to  the  time  of 
Marcion,"  he  feels  that  the  bottom  has  been 
clean  knocked  out  of  the  Marcionite  content- 


ion.'7 

n  When  St.  Justin  says  that  the  Christian  ' '  received  the 
waslg  with  water  in  the  name  of  God  the  Father  and 
lord  of  the  universe"  (Apol.  1.  n.  61),  he  too,  is  citing 
S°e  Baptismal  Creed,  not  the  Baptismal  Formula  and 
bearing  witness  to  the  truth  uf  Tertullian's  saying  that  all 
the  Apostolic  Churches  "  christened  in  the  Creator. 


222 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


i 


XIII. 


An  Instruc- 
tive Par- 
allel. 


It   is   instructive  to  note  how 
Protostants   stand   to-day  where 
the    Marcionites    stood    in    the 
second   century,   and  have    the   same   watch- 
word.    "Back  to  Christ !  "  cried  the  disciples 
of  Marcion;  "Back   to   Christ!"  is  the  cry 
that  is  echoed  in  our  own  day.     "  Marcion  in- 
troduced no  new  Rule  of  Faith,  made  no  in- 
novations," said  his  disciples ;  "  he  did  but  re- 
store the  Faith  of  Christ  in  its  pristine  purity." 
Put  Luther  for  Marcion,  and  how  strangely 
familiar  the  words  sound  !     Luther,  forsooth, 
was  not  an  innovator,  but  a  reformer ;  and  the 
word  "  Reformation  "   is  made  to  confer  im- 
mortality on  the  unblushing    falsehood.      It 
was  the  Apostles    themselves,     according   to 
Marcion,  who  perverted  the  truth ;  according 
to  Luther,  it  was  the   Church  founded  by  the 
Apostles.     But  the  falsehood  is  fundamentally 
the  same,  for  is  it  not  written,  and  lo  lam 
with  you  always  even  to  the  consurmmtwn  of 
tJie  worW    If  there  are  to-day— and  we  have 
no  less  an  authority  than  Professor  Harnack 

2^^3 


THE  SYMBOL 

for  saying  that  there  are—"  numerous  mem- 
bers of  the  Evangelic  churches    who,   being 
sincere  Christians  [forsooth],  feel  themselves 
oppressed  in  conscience  by  many  clauses  of  the 
Apostles'  Creed,"  '«  and  would  fain  be  rid  ot 
the  formulary,  this  does  but  attest  once  more 
the  tendency  of  history  to  repeat  itself.     So 
felt  Marcion  and  his  followers,  "  oppressed  in 
conscience  by  many   clauses  of  the  Apostles 
Creed,  and  they  made  all   haste  to  cast  them 
away.     But  the  Church  of  the  living  God  still 
stands   where    she   stood,    still  holds  fast  the 
«  Symbol  of  our  Faith  and  Hope,"  '^  still  walks 
in  the  way  of  that  Tradition  which  she  has 
"received   from   the    Apostles;  which  Tradi- 
tion proclaims  one  God  Almighty,  Maker  of 
Heaven  and  Earth."  '° 

18  The  Nineteenth  Century,  July,  1903 ;  p.  154. 

19  St.  Jerome,  Contra  Joann.  Hier,  n.  28. 

ao  St.  Irensus,  Adv.,  Haer.,  bk.  3 ;  c.  3  ;  n.  3. 


$H 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


f  i^ 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  SYMBOL  IN  THE  SUB-APOSTOLIC  AGE. 

I.       - 


A  Passage  in 
Pliny. 


Before  going  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment for  traces  of  the  Symbol,  it 
may  be  worth  our  while  to  lojk 
into  a  passage  that  is  to  be  found  in  the  pages 
of  a  pagan  writer  of  the  sub-apostolic  age. 
Pliny  the  Younger,  who  became  Governor  of 
Bithynia  in  Asia  Minor,  in  the  first  decade  of 
the  second  century,  has  this  to  say  of  the 
Christians  in  a  letter  to  the  Emperor  Trajan  : 

They  [the  Christians]  declared  this  to  be  the 
sum  of  their  wrong-doing  or  error,  that  they 
were  wont  to  gather  before  dawn  on  a  given 
day  and  say  with  one  another  a  form  of  words 
(religious  formula)  to  Christ  as  to  a  god,  and 
to  bind  themselves  by  oath  ...  not  to  com- 
mit theft,  or  robbery,  or  adultery;  not  to 
break  their  word,  and  not  to  deny  (or  give  up) 


15 


^25 


THE  SYMBOL 

what  was  committed  to  their  keeping,  when 
summoned  (before  the  courts).^ 

Newman  (Development  of  Christian  Docr 
^rme,  eh.  VL,  sect.  l,n.  18)  cites  "How  doth 

this   chief   sorcerer   mock  us,    skilled   by  his 
Thessalian  charm  {carmine)  to  laugh  at  punish- 
ment'- as  illustrating  the  force  of  camenm 
this  passage.     Carmen  also  means  a  formula  m 
reli-ion  or  in  law,  as,  diro  quodam  carmine 
mrlre''  Liv.  10.  38.  10;  ^' legaiionis  carmen 
recitarer  Id.  3.  G4.  10.     It  is  difficult  to  con- 
ceive of  anything  that  fits  the  carmen  dicere 
Christo  quasi  deo   secum    inmcem   of   I'lmy 
better  than  the  recitation  of  the  Symbol  in  the 
assemblies  of   the  faithful   as   it   is  done,  m 
alternate  parts,  to  this  day.     No  other  ancient 
formulary  has  made  its  way  down  from  those 
early  days  which  has  a  place  in  the  Christian 

lAdfirmabant   autem  banc  fuisse  summan  vel  culpee 
J^vPl Troris    quod  essent  soliti  stato  die  ante  lucem 

!!Epi:t  Silil  iotirEpiTt.  CPUuii  Traianolmpera- 

a  Prud.  in  hon.  Rom.    V.  404,  868. 

226 


';iti 


OF  THE  AP0gr^.E3. 

worship  and  is  at  the  same  time  a  distinct  pro- 
fession of  faith  in  Christ  as  God.  Schaff,  in 
his  Creeds  of  Christendom,^  says  that  the 
Apostles'  Creed  is  "  a  liturgical  poem  and  an 
act  of  worship,"  and  so  it  is,  and  so  it  has 
been  from  the  first.  In  the  fifth  century 
Faustus  speaks  of  it  as  symholi  saliitare  car- 
men'^ a.iiA  again  calls  it  ccelestis  sapientiae 
vitale  carmen,  s 

Pliny,  in  his  letter  to  Trajan,  asks  how  he 
is  to  deal  with  the  Christians  in  his  jurisdic- 
tion. On  various  occasions  already  he  has  had 
some  of  them  before  his  tribunal,  and  the  evi- 
dence they  gave  is  under  his  eyes,  or  at  any 
rate,  fresh  in  his  mind,  as  he  writes.  It  is  but 
natural,  therefore,  to  conclude  that  v  hat  they 
had  to  say  for  themselves,  as  set  forth  in  the 
passage  cited  above,  is  given  in  their  own 
words.  The  reader  will  note  the  expressions 
"  fidem  fallerent "  and  "  depositum  abnegar- 
ent."  The  former  of  the  two  has  an  obvious 
classical  sense.     But  it   does  seem  likely  that 

"Vol.  I,  p.  15. 
*(DeSpir.,I.  1). 
^Hom.  1  de  Symbolo. 


THE  SYMBOL 

it  bote  a  deeper  meaning  for  men  who  were 
wiUing  at  all  times,  as  Pliny  himself  bears  wit- 
ness in  this  letter,  to  lay  down  their  Uves 
rather  than  prove  false  to  the  "  ^artb  once  de- 
Uvered  to  the  Saints."  There  would  have  been 
little  reason  for  swearing  that  they  ''^1*  ""' 
break  their  wo.-,  mueh  for  swearing  that  they 
would  be  true  to  the  Faith. 


n. 


GUARDING 
THE 

Deposit. 


The  second  of  the  two  expres- 
sions is  even  more  significant.     It 

mio-ht  seem  at  first  that  the  clause 

«  ne   depositum"  appellati    abnegarent  "  is  to 
be  construed  to  mean  no  more  than  this,  that 
Christians  took  an  oath  "  not  to  refuse  to  give  up 
,vhat  was  committed  to  them  in  trust  when  caUed 
upon  "  to  do  so.     This  is  ho-  ■  the  annotator  of 
the  edition  of  PUny'^  LetUrs  that  bes  before 
me  interprets  the  clause,  for  he  comments,     A 
frequent  temptation,  on   account  of  the  want 
ofLurities."     But  had  this  been  the  mean- 
i„.r  intended,  we  should   have  "appeUanti 
no^   "appeUati."    "Abnegare"  takes  a  dat- 


!'.=i| 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

ive  of  the  person  from  whom  the  thing  is  with- 
held,  as  "Rex    tibi   eonjugium     abnegat"^ 
"  Appellati,"  in  the  context  of  the  passage  be- 
fore  us,  can  mean  only  «  when  summoned  be- 
fore the  courts,"  or  «  informed  against,"  which 
comes  to  the  same  thing.     Now  it  would  be 
absurd  for  any  one  to  swear  that  he  would  give 
up  the  thing  committed  to  him  in  trust  on 
being  cited  before  the  courts,  when  he  could 
not  choose  but  give  it  up,  the  law  compeUing 
him.      Hence    the  word    « depositum  "  must 
bear  a  special  meaning  in  the  present  instance. 
The  meaning  that  it  bears  is  not  far  to  seek 
We  have  seen  how  St.  Gregory  Nazianzen  re- 
fers to  the  Syml   '    ,  « that  excellent  Deposit 
of  the  fathers  that  were   nearest   to   Christ." 
We  read  how  one  of  these  "fathers  "  bids  his 
disciple,  "  Guard  the  good  deposit  committed 
to  thy  trust,   by  the  Holy  Ghost  who  abideth 
in  us."-2  Tim.    1 :  13.     The    words   of  the 
Apostle  find  an  echo  in  Justin  Martyr.     The 
same  word  <po^a^^<o  is  used  to   express  what  we 
render   in  English  "guard,"  but    instead   of 
'deposit  "    St.    Justin    has     "Confession." 

•Virgil. 

229 


1 

1 

I'-' 

H 

1; 

1 

1 

THE  SYMBOL 

.<  With  guarding,"  he  wites, "  the  Confession 
in  Ae  Christ  of  God." '  So,  too  St  C  ement 
of  Alexandria,  in  a  passage  already  cited,  con- 
siders it  "the  mark  of  a  soul  that Joves  t° 
guard,"  not  the  "Depos.t,"  nor  the  Con 
Lion,"  but  ^hat  is  another  name  for  the 
same  ihing,  "  the  Messed  Tradition,  so  that 
it  may  not  escape."  ^ 

III. 
..ABNEOARE."!        The  verb  "abnegate,"  which, 

■    during  the  classical  period  of  the 

language,  is  found   only  in   the  poets,  is  but 
a   slefglhened  form   of  "negare"    as   used 
by  them      In  post-Augustine  prose  it  is  used 
ilthe    sense    of   "renouncing"    or  "gmng 
over"     The  Latin  of  the  old    Versio  Mala, 
which  the  Vulgate  largely  conserves,  belongs 
to  this   period.     In   Tit.  I.  1^,   '.\   ^  . 
a.i^.a.  of  the  original  text  appears  m  the  Vul- 
gate   as   "abnegantes  impietatem,      which  is 
Lre   correctly   rendered    "renouncing  ^^   or 
«  giving  up  "  than  "  denying  ungodliness,     as 


T  (Dial.  47). 
8  Strom'  1. 1. 


230 


rap^ra^I^P 


OF  THE  APOSTLES, 


in  our  English  versions. '  This  is  also  the 
meaning  "  abnegare  "  has  in  a  well  known 
passage  of  the  thirty-eighth  homily  of  St. 
Gregory  the  Great,  on  Matt.  16  :  "  Minus" 
quippe  est  abnegare  quod  habet  ;  valde 
multura  est  abnegare  quod  est — It  is  a  little 
thing  to  give  up  what  one  has,  but  a  very 
great  thing  to  give  up  what  one  is."  It 
would  appear,  therefore,  that  the  clause  "  ne 
depositum  appellati  abnegarent "  may  mean 
either  " not  to  give  up  the  deposit,"  or  "not 
to  renounce  that  which  was  committed  to  their 
keeping,  when  cited  (before  the  tribunal)." 
In  the  former  case,  "  depositum  "  would  sig- 
nify the  Symbol  of  the  Faith  ;  in  the  latter, 
the  Faith  itself. 

IV. 
Now  this  is  precisely  what  cate- 
chumens bound  themselves  to  do 
on  the  day  of  tlieir  baptism.  They 
bound  themselves  to  hold  fast  "  the 
Faith  in  God,  the  Confession  in  Him  who  suf- 
ered,"    as  Clement  of  Alexandria  expresses  it ; 

'  Cf.  Robitison's  Greek  and  English  Lexicon  of  the  Neio 
Testament,  apveofiat,  (2  b). 

231 


The  Oath 

OF  THE 

Catechu- 
men. 


THE  SYMBOL 

in  other  words,  "  not  to  betray  the  Faith,  not 
to  give  up  the  Symbol,"  but  to  guard  sacredly 
the  "  blessed  tradition,  lest  it  should  escape." 
The  "  word  "  which  they  as  Christians  pledged 
themselves  to  keep,  or,  "  not  to  break,"  was 
not  their   word    but   the   word   ('J  'i«r«?),   the 
"  summary  of  sound  words  "  (2  Tim.  1 :  13) 
which   contained   the   whole    Gospel   as  in  a 
nutshell,  the   Symbol  of   the    Apostles,  *'the 
Faith  once  delivered  to  the   saints."     This  we 
know  from  other  sources.     And  what  is  even 
more  to  the  purpose,  bearing  out  as  it  does  the 
interpretation  put  upon  the  passage  in  Pliny, 
we  know  that  it  was  customary  with  the  early 
Christians  to  take  an  oath  to  guard  their  Bap- 
tismal Symbol.     The  custom  still  survived  in 
the  early  part  of  the  fourth  century  as  appears 
from  the  words  of  St.  Hilary  in  Ad  Oomtan- 
Hum  1.  2,  n.  4,  where  he  speaks  of  "  confessing 
under  oath  in  baptism  the  Faith  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost."     A  passage   from  Zahn,  bearing  on 
this  same  point,  which  Burn  introduces  with 
some  words  of  his  own,'°  must  be  cited  entire. 

»  An  Introduction  to  the  Creeds,  p.  57. 

233 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


It  goes  even  beyond  our  immediate  purpose, 
serving  not  only  to  prove  the  existence  of  the 
custom  above  referred  to,  but  also  to  discredit 
Professor  McGiffert's  theory  that  it  was  "  over 
against "  the  errors  of  Marcion  the  Old  Roman 
Creed  was  framed."  Here  are  the  words  of 
Zahn  as  reproduced  by  Burn  : 

"  In  the  one  passage  of  the  New  Testament, 
as  revised  by  Marcion,  we  find  the  mysterious 
passage.  Gal.  iv.  24,  remodelled  by  the  ad- 
dition of  words  from  Eph.  i.  21,  and  others. 
We  read  there  about  the  two  covenants :  *  The 
one,  from  Mount  Sinai,  which  is  thesy  ,  gogue 
of  the  Jews  after  the  law,  begotten  into  bon- 
dage; the  other,  which  is  exalted  above  all 
might,  majesty,  and  power,  and  over  every 
name  that  is  named  not  only  in  this  world, 
but  also  in  that  which  is  to  come ;  which 
(covenant)  is  the  mother  of  us  all,  which  be- 
gets us  in  the  holy  Church,  which  we  have 
acknowledged  (or  to  which  we  have  vowed 
allegiance).  Marcion  does  not  say,  or  rather 
does  not  allow  the  apostle  to  say,  'which  we 
acknowledge,'  but  he  looks  back  to  the  con- 
fession and  the  oath  taken  once  for  all  with 
reference  to  *  the  holy  Church.'  The  word 
used    here,    *  repromittere,'    *  eTtavyyaXsff9at'^  d^ 

i»  The  Apostles'  Creed,  p.  13  and  passim, 

233 


i* 


THE  SYMBOL 

scribes  such  an  oath,  and  had  been  used  earlier 
by  Ignatius  o£  the  oath  taken  on  the  confession 
of  the  Christian  faith  .  .  .  Marcion  thought 
much  of  the  Church  as  he  understood  her,  and 
considered  the  Christian  relation  to  her  a  very 
close  one.  ...     As  far  f.\'^^^':''^ 
lows  from  the  passage  quoted  * ^T  ,^;i,^S^ 
to  the  Galatians  that  the  words  'a  holy  Chui  ch 
were  contained  in  Marcion's  Baptismal   Con 
fession,  and  therefore  in  the  Roman  Creed  of 
A.  D.  145."     Zahn,pp.  32f. 


The  Old 
Roman 
Creed. 


V. 

It  remains  but  to  give  what  ap- 
pear to  be  the  very  words  of  the 
oath  taken  by  the  early  Christians 
on   the   Symbol   when  Mother  Church  begot 
them  in  baptism,  whom  she  fed  on  "  miUc, 
« the  first  elements  of  the  oracles  ot  Uod,    as 
having   "need    of"  it,  "and   not   of   strong 
food  "— Heb.  5  :  12.     I  am  again  indebted  to 
Burn  for  these  words,  who  in  his  turn  cites 
them  from  Caspari,  who  found  them  in  what 
I  take  to  be  a  recovered  fragment  of  fet.  Uem- 
ent's  first  Epistle,  for  they  are  no  part  of  the 
text  published  by  Migne  in  his  Fatrohgiae 

234 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


Oursus    Completus,   torn.    1,    Parisiis,    1857. 

The  passage  in  Burn  runs : 

"  Caspari,  indeed,  quotes  the  oath  found  in 
that  epistle  (c.  58.  2):   *5  r^p  "  ^£<>?  zat  fjj  6  xupwg 

WijiToui    Xpiaroi   xai  to    nvsofxa    to  ayiov    rj    re    niffTi^  xai 

ij  iXnii  Twv  ixhxTibv,^^  where  the  words  ^  ncaTu  stand 
in  apposition  to  the  preceding  sentence.  He 
compares  with  it  Jerome  against  John  of 
Jerusalem  (c.  28).  "  In  symbol©  fidei  et  spei 
nostrae  .  .  .  omne  dogmatis  christianae  sacra- 
mentum  carnis  resurrectione  concluditur." 
Then  he  asks  whether  these  words  do  not 
point  to  the  neighborhood  where  the  Old  Ro- 
man Creed  was  composed."  '^ 

Rather  do  they  point  to  the  Old  Roman 
Creed  itself.  For,  as  Irenaeus  tells  us,  "  In  the 
time  of  this  Clement  no  small  tumult  having 
arisen  among  the  brethren  which  were  in 
Corinth,  the  Church  in  Rome  wrote  a  most  ef- 
fective letter  to  the  Corinthians,  urging  them 
to  be  at  peace  with  one  another,  and  renewing 
their  faith,  and  [setting  forth]  the  tradition 
which  it  had  recently  received  from  the  Apos- 
tles, which  tradition  proclaims    one  God  A\- 


"  Op.  oit.  p.  64. 

*»  "  As  Qod  lives  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Holy 
Ghost,  the  Faith  aud  Hui>e  of  the  elect." 

235 


THE  aiMBOL 

mighty,  Maker  of  Heaven  and  Earth.""    The 
ph^se'' pointing  to"  might    -^^-^^^^S^ 
L  the  meaniag,   take  the  pUce  of  "  se   mg 
forth  ■•  supplied  by  Keble.     Nowhere  m  Clem- 
ent's first  Epistle  is  "  the  tradition  recently  re- 
ceived from  the  Apostles,  which  tradition  pro- 
claims one  God  Almighty,  Maker  of  Heaven 
and  Earth,"  set  forth.     But  there  «  a  distinct 
aUusion  to  it  in  the  words  of  the  oath  cited 

above,  and  again  (c.  ^.  2)  where  Clement  calls 
it  the  glorious  and  venerable  rule  («-;«)  of  our 
tradition  (.«^««-»«  al  »M«»0  "  «a"'ng,  and 
adds  significantly:  "Let  us  see  what  is  good 
andplfasingintheeyesofHimwhomad 

us ;  "  to  wit,  "  the  Father  Almighty      ot  the 

Symbol. 

u  Adv.  Haer.  1.  3,  c.  3,  n.  3  (as  ia  Keble's  translation). 


236 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


i)  f  I 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  SYMBOL  IN  THF  NEW  TESTAMENT. 


State  op  the 
Question. 


"  Many  attempts  have  been 
made,"  says  Burn,'  to  extract  a 
formal  Apostles'  Creed  from  the  New  Testa- 
ment by  comparison  and  combination  of  vari- 
ous passages.  However  ingenious,  they  always 
fail  to  prove  more  than  this — that  there  was  an 
outline  of  teaching  (rurrof  3cdaxr,<i  Rom.  vi.  17) 
upon  which  apostolic  preachers  and  writers  were 
agreed."  So  far  as  we  have  any  means  of 
knowing,  no  "  formal  Apostles'  Creed  "  was 
ever  put  in  writing  before  the  time  of  Marcel- 
lusof  Ancyra,  in  the  fourth  century.     Even  he 

*.  Op.  cit.  p,  8.  The  reverence  and  scholarly  reserve  of 
this  writer  are  in  pleasing  contrast  to  the  flippancy  and 
cock-sureness  of  Harnack.  Had  tlie  latter  gone  as  deeply 
into  original  sources  as  Caspari  and  Kaltenbusch,  those 
patient  investigators  who  performed  the  labor  into  which 
he  has  enteref^  he  would  show  more  sobriety  of  judgment 
than  he  does,  and  be  much  less  confident  in  his  denials. 

237 


THE  SYMBOL 

does  not  profess  to  be  setting  forth  such  a  formu- 
lary, though  we  know  from  other  sources  the 
one  he  does  set  forth  to  be  such.     Neither  Ter- 
tuUiannor  Irenaus  gives  us  a  formal  Apostles' 
Creed.     Both  of  them  witness  to  the  existence 
of  a  Baptismal  Creed  in  their  day  ;  both  of  them 
trace  it  to  an  Apostolic  origin;  but  neither  of 
them,  as  we  have  seen,  set  before  us  the  ipsis- 
8ima  verba  of  this  Creed,  nor  all  the  elements 
of  it.     The  East  is  one  with  the  West  in  bear- 
ing witness  that  the  Apostles'  Creed  was  not 
first  given  in  writing,   nor  transmitted  from 
one   generation   to   another   in    writing,    but 
handed  on  by  oral  tradition  in  a  secret  man- 
ner, and  "  graved  on  the  fleshly  tablets  of  the 
heart." 


n. 


An  Objection 
Met. 


Read  in  the  light  of  this  as- 
sured fact,  the  second  sentence  of 
the  following  passage  from  Burn  overthrows 
the  objection  raised  in  the  first— an  objection 
which  he  styles"  the  final  and  most  formi- 
dable." 

238 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

"If  the  Creed  was  really  written  by  the 
Apostles,  how  could  the  next  generation  pre- 
sume to  alter  its  wording  ?  In  every  Church, 
not  excepting  the  Church  of  Rome,  later  gen- 
erations still  permitted  further  alterations, 
consistently  if  they  need  only  to  desire  to 
maintain  continuity  of  sense,  impiously  if  they 
were  really  bound  by  the  letter  of  their  law  of 
believing." — p.  66. 

As  the  Creed  was  not  given  in  writing  but 
orally,  it  is  the  sense  that  was  regarded  as 
sacrosanct,  not  the  wording  which  must  needs 
vary  among  the  many-ton gued  generations  of 
beHevers.  The  wording  was  important  so  far 
as  it  served  to  convey  and  to  fix  the  meaning. 
From  this  point  of  view,  which  is  the  true  one, 
the  Nicene  Symbol  was  Apostolic,  while  the 
Symbol  of  Arius,  though  much  simpler  and 
nearer  the  archetypal  form  aboriginally  deliv- 
ered, was  really  at  variance  with  that  formu- 
lary. It  is  worth  while  pointing  out,  too,  that, 
as  the  Creed  was  handed  on  by  oral  tradition 
only,  neither  Burn  nor  any  one  else  can  know 
that  the  next  generation  after  the  Apostles 
presumed  to  alter  its  wording. 

239 


t 


THE  SYMBOL 


The  Stream 
OF  Tradi- 

DITION. 


III. 

The  attempts  made  to  extract 
a   formal  Apostles'  Creed   from 

the  New   Testament  were  all  of 

them  ill-advised  and  foredoomed  to  failure. 
The  only  way  to  trace  the  Creed  to  its  origin  is 
to  follow  the  path  of  the  tradition  by  which 
it  came  down  to  those  who  first  set  it  before 
us  ;  just  as  the  only  way  to  find  the  source  of 
golden  sands  washed  down  by  a  stream  from 
the  mountains  is  to  follow  upward  the  channel 
down  which  they  have  come.     The  Creed  of 
the  Apostles  has  been  brought  down  to  us  by 
the   same    stream    of    Apostolical    Tradition 
which  has  brought  to  us  the  work  known  as  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  with  this  difference  that 
the  latter  was  conveyed  openly,  the  former  in 
a   secret   manner.     The   original   MS.   of  St. 
Luke's   work   perished  long   ages  ago.     It  is 
Tradition  that  accredits  the  work  as  well  as  the 
fact  of   its  inspiration.     By  Tradition  here  I 
mean  aU  knowledge  of  the  teachings,  sayings, 
and  doings  of  the  Apostles  that  has  come  down 
to  us  outside  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, whether  in  writing  or  by  word  of  mouth. 

340 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


The  Broad 

Fact  op 

Catholicism. 


IV. 

In  tracing  the  origin  of  the 
Symbol,  Burn  has  gone,  uncon- 
sciously no  doubt,  on  the  Prot- 
estant assumption  that  the  New  Testament  is 
the  one  and  only  source  of  all  that  we  know 
or  can  know  of  the  Apostles,  of  what  they 
taught,  of  what  they  said,  of  what  they  did. 
He  therefore  begins  his  search  for  the  Symbol 
in  the  New  Testament  writings,  and  not  finding 
it  there,  draws  the  conclusion  that  it  was  not 
as  yet  in  existence.  The  inference  is  logical, 
but  the  conclusion  is  false,  because  the  assump- 
tion of  the  major  premise  is  not  founded  on 
fact.  That  premise  ignores  and  leaves  out  of 
account  nothing  less  than  what  Newman  has 
called  "  this  broad  fact  of  Catholicism,  as  real 
as  the  Continent  of  America  or  the  Milky 
Way."  The  Catholic  Cliurch,  the  ever  living 
Church  of  the  living  God,  was  already  organ- 
ized, was  already  carrying  on  her  mission,  was 
already  preaching  the  Gospel  to  the  nations, 
was  already  begetting  children  to  God  in  bap- 
tism, had  already  her  Baptismal  Creed,  before 
one  word  of  the  New  Testament  was  put  in 
16  241 


THE  SYMBOL 

writing.     "  As  the  creeds,"  says  an  Anglican 
authority  whose  words  ring  truer   here  than 
Burn's,  "  were  the  earliest  development  of  the 
formal  faith  of  the  Church,  so  they  are  the  first 
and  most  authentic  form  of  her  oral  tradition. 
They  were  learned  and  confessed  by  the  can- 
didates for  baptism,  and  openly  recited  as  the 
rule  of  faith,  one  and  the  same  from  one  gen- 
eration to  another.     The  creeds  subserving  in 
this   way   the   growth    and  edification  of  the 
Church,  are  anterior  to  the    Gospels.     There 
are  traces  of  them  in  fact  observable  in  Scrip- 
ture." '      AH   that   is   needed   to   bring   this 
into  complete  harmony  with  Catholic  truth,  and 
with  fact — an  obvious  fact — as  well,  is  to  write 
"Creed"  for  "creeds."     The   one  Church,  of 
the  one  God  and  the  one  Lord,  having  one 
Faith,  and  one  Baptism,  surely  can  have  but 
the  one  Creed. 

3  BlunVa  Theological  Dictionary,  art.  "  Creeds." 


%^ 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


m 


The  Symbol 

AND  THE 
SCRIPl'URE. 


This  one  and  Catholic  Church, 
then,  comes  down  the  stream  of 
time   freighted    with   the  whole 
Tradition  of  the  Truth,  the  Word  of  God  in 
its  integrity.     In  her  hand  she  holds  the  Scrip- 
ture, but  in  her  heart  the  Symbol  of  the  Faith. 
The  Scripture  she  reads  and  expounds  openly 
to  all  men  ;  the  Symbol,  for  a  space,  she  hides 
from  the  profane,  she  recites  not  in  the  hear- 
ing   of  the    stranger,  she  gives   only  to    her 
children,  and  to  these  as  a  sacred  trust,  under 
oath,  to  be  jealously  guarded.     Burn,  and  with 
Burn  the  whole  school  of  historical  criticism, 
have  seen  the   Church  of  the    first  centuries 
bearing  in  her  hand  the  Scripture,  have  heard 
her  expound  it,  and  have  been  present  as  spec- 
tators in  the  assemblies  of  the  faithful  until 
the  signal  was  given  for   all  those  who  were 
not    initiated  in    the  mysteries  to  withdraw. 
But  they  have   never  been  privileged  to  wit- 
ness a  Traditio  or  Reddifio   SymhoU,   they 
have  never  heard  the  Symbol  recited,  and  know 
no  more  of  its  existence  than  did  those  who 

243 


THE  SYMBOL 

were  turned  away  at  the  same  time.  They 
can  therefore  no  more  discern  a  reference  to 
the  Symbol  in  the  "  good  deposit "  which 
Paul  consigned  to  Timothy  than  the  pap,  in 
Plin>r  could  in  the  "  deposit "  which  the  Chris- 
tians of  Asia  Minor  in  his  day  so  nobly  kept 
at  the  cost  of  their  lives,  what  time  he  ordered 
them  to  be  put  to  death  for  no  other  crime 
than  their"  unbei  d'r^'  stubbornness,"  as  he 
calls  it,  in  confessing  "  the  Faith  once  for  all 
delivered  to  the  saints." 


Scriptural, 
Allusions, 


VI. 

But    historical    criticism    does 
discern  in  the  New  Testament  "  an 
outline    of   teaching    upon    which  ^  apostolic 
preachers  and  writers  were  agreed."     This  is 
quite   enough   for   our   purpose.      Even   the 
critics  will  be  driven  by  the  inexorable  law  of 
logical  consistency  to  admit  that  this  outline 
can  be  no  other  than  our  Symbol.     But  first 
let  us  look  into  some  of  the  allusions  to  the 
Creed,  veiled  indeed  but  unmistakable,   that 
are  to  be  found  in  the  New  Testament. 

244 


r^^-jmok.  .iSMJ. 


^-t;-..  ..B»jriift,yqBaj»»ngiiiaBP^E^gg:;aB«Ba> tl.  •fi.aa' 


•%  i" 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

The  "  outline "   in    question  it   is  that  St. 
John  refers  to  when  he  bids  his  disciples  not 
to  receive  into  their  houses  nor  give  greeting 
to  the  one  who  "bringeth  not  this   teaching  " 
(2  Jo.  11).     «  Whoso,"  says  Polycarp,  descHb- 
ing  somewhat  more  fully  for  us ''this  teach- 
ing "  of  his  master,  "  conr\}sses  not  that  Jesus 
Christ  came  in    the  flesh,   he    is  Antichrist  ; 
and*  whoso  twists  the  words  of  the  Lord   after 
his  own  caprices,  and  says  that  there  is  to  be 
no   resurrection   and  no  judgment,  he   is  the 
firstborn    of  Satan.      Wherefore    renouncing 
the  vain  conceits  of  the  many  and  their  false 
doctrines,  let  us  return  to  that  word  which  was 
delivered  to  us  from  the  beginning."  ^     This 
"  outHne,"    this  "  word,"  was    a    summary  of 
Apostolic  teaching,  the  Gospel  in  a  compen- 
dious   and    portable   form,    which    could    be 
"  brought  "  and  set  forth  by  the  pilgrim  and 
the  stranger,  and  which  should  serve  those  to 
whom  they  brought  it  as  a  test  or  tessera  of 
orthodoxy.     Christian  Antiquity  knows  of  no 
formulary   that   answers  this  description   but 
the  Symbol  of  the  Apostles. 
«  Cf.  A.  Lapide's  Commentaries  (in  2  Ep.,  8  Job.) 


Iff, 


THE  SYMBOL 

«  Baptism,"  we  read  in  1  Peter,  3  ;  20-22, 
«  consisteth  not  in  a  cleansing  of  the  impuri- 
ties of  the  flesh,  but   in  the  examination  of  a 
good  conscience  toward  God."     On   this  the 
Abb^   Fouard   remarks  :     "  The  Greek  com- 
mentators   explain     the  word  ^-^/'--J  by  the 
synonyms    ^f^^"*^'^.  "C^rr,^:?,  and   the    Vulgate 
translates  it  by  '  interrogation     Pe  Wette  and 
Huther(in  Meyer's  Commentary)  recognize  the 
fact  that  this  is  an  allusion  to  the  Baptismal 
interrogation,  and  consequently  to  the  Profes- 
sion of  Faith— the  Credo— demanded  of  every 
catechumen.     It  is  worthy  of  note  that  three 
articles  of  the  Apostles'  Creed  are  mentioned 
here  by  St.  Peter  as  making  part  of  this  inter- 
rogation  of  a  good  conscience  before  God,  this 
interrogation  which  saveth  us  by  the  Reswrrec- 
lion  of  Jesus,  Who  .  ,  .  .  is  ascended  into 
Heaven  and  sitteth  at  tlie  right  hand  of  God:'* 
One  is  reminded  of  the  words  of  Tertullian,' 
"The  soul  is  sanctified,  not  by  the  washing, 
but  by  the  response ;  "  and  again,*^  "  After  this 

4  St  Peter  and  the  First  Years  of  Christianity  (trans- 
lated by  a.  F.  X.  Griffith.  Longmans,  1898)  p.  289,  footnote. 
»  De  Resurr.  Carnis.  48. 

•  De  Cor.  Mil.  a. 

248 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


we  are  thrice  dipped,  answering  somewhat 
more  fully  than  the  Lord  determined  in  the 
Gospel,"  to  wit,  the  Faith  in  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Ghost. 

In  1  John,  5:5,  6,  where  Faith  in  Christ  is 
the  theme,  Westcott,  cited  by  Burn  (p.  18), 
notes  how  the  aorist  points  to  the  sing-le 
moment  of  baptism.  "  This  is  the  victory  that 
overcame  {v^t'Tjffaaa'j  the  world,  even  our  faith. 
Who  is  he  that  overcometh  ('  'tSv)  the  world, 
but  he  that  belie veth  that  Jesus  is  the  Fm  of 
God." 


The  Pattern 

OP  Sound 

Words. 


VII. 

In  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
St.  Paul  speaks  of  the  "  first 
elements  of  the  oracles  of  God  " 
(5  :  12)  given  to  those  who  were  born  again  by 
baptism,  even  as  "  milk  "  is  given  to  a  "  babe  " 
(v.  13).  This  appears  to  be  "  the  confession 
(rr/y  dfxoXojriai)  "  that  he  had  referred  to  in  a 
preceding  chapter  (4  :  12).  This  "  outline," 
which  suggests  the  ;r«/'«'f^'>«  of  Irenaeus  and 
the  "  indicium  "  of  Rufinus,  was  in  the  nature 
of  a  "  deposit "  (1  Tim.  6  :  21 ;  2  Tim.  1 :  12, 

247 


THE  SYMBOL 

U)  or  sacred  trust  to  be  guarded  by  the  faith- 
ful •  a  "  form  "  or  "  pattern  "  or  «  summary 
of  «  sound  words  "  first  "  heard  among  many 
witnesses,"  and  to  be  committed  to  "faithful 
„,en  "  who  should  be  "  fit  to  teach  others  also 
(2  Tim  2-2).     On  these  passages  ot  bt.  l:'aui  a 
letters  "to    Timothy,    the    Anglican     Blunt 
observes  :  "  It  is  almost  mipossible  to  find  any 
other  meaning  for  the  Apostle's  words  if  they 
do  not  refer  to  such  a  formulary  as  the  Creed. 
And  the  Abb^  Fouard  '   points  out  that  the 
^ord  o^oror:..:,  rendered  "  form  "  in  the  Enghsh 
version,  is  employed  by  Sextus  Empiricus  to 
denote  "  an  abridgment  of  a  doctrme  or  phil- 
osophy."    There  are  further  allusions  to  the 
Creed  in  the  writings  of  St.  Paul  as  weU  as  m 
the  other  Pastoral  Epistles,  but  enough  to  have 
cited  these. 

VIII. 

SuHMiNo  UP  :       Let  us  now  sum  up  the  case 

THE  Case     :    ^^^  ^^ie  ApostoUc  authorship  of 

the  Symbol  so  far  as  it  rests  on  the   evidence 

to  be  found  in  the  New  Testament.     There 


f  Loc.  cit. 


248 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

existed   in   the   Apostolic    Church   an   "out- 
line   of    teaching,"   a   "summary    of   sound 
words,"  a  "confession,"  a   "deposit,"   which 
was     to    be    guarded     with      jealous    care, 
which  was   closely  bound  up  with  the  sacra- 
ment of  baptism,  which  was  a  tessera  of  or- 
thodoxy, which  was  committed  by  the  Apostles 
to  faithful  men  who  were  charged,  in   their 
turn,  to  hand  it  on  to  the  succeeding  genera- 
tion of  beUevers.     A  century  glides  away,  and 
we  find  Irenaeus,  who  is  brought  up  in  the 
East,  and  Tertullian,  who  is  brought  up  in  the 
West,  setting  forth   a  "doctrine,"  a  "tradi- 
tion," an  "outline,"  a  "tessera,"  a  "Rule  of 
Truth,"  a  "  Rule  of  Faith,"  which  served  as  a 
Baptismal  Confession  in  their  day,  and  which 
we  identify  with  the  Old  Roman  or  Apostles* 
Creed.     Both  of  these  witi  ^sses,  one  of  whom 
is  the  disciple  of  Polycarp  who  got  the  "  teach, 
ing  "  and  tessera  of  the  Apostolic  Faith  from 
St.  John,  assure  us  that  the  Rule  of  Truth  and 
Faith  which  baptism  bestowed  on  them  was 
everywhere   the   same  within  the  pale  of  the 
world-wide  Church,  and  that  it  was  instituted 
by  the  Apostles. 

249 


m 


THE  8YMB0L 

Briefly,  then,  the  case  stands  thus.     His- 
torical criticism  will  either  admit  the  « teach- 
ing" of  St.  John,  the  "  deposit"  and  "  pattern 
of  sound  words,"  and  «  outline    of  teachmg," 
spoken  of   by  St.  Paul,  to  be  identical  with 
Iren^us's  «  outline  "  and   -Rule   of   Truth, 
with   Tertullian's   "tessera"   and   "Rule   ot 
Faith,"  or   it  will   not.     If   it   will,   then  it 
acknowledges  the  Apostles  to  be  the  authors 
of  the   Symbol.     If  it   will   not,  let  it  first 
settle  its  account  with  Irenseus  and  TertuUian, 
to  whom  it  has  given  the  lie,  and  then  find  for 
us,  in  the  writings  of  the  second  century,  the 
"teaching"  of  St.  John,  and  the  "  deposit 
which  Timothy  was  to  keep  himself  and  hand 
on  to  faithful  men,  as  he  had  been  solemnly 
charged  to  do  by  the  Apostle.     Its  quest  of 
this  lost  formulary  is  Uke  to  prove  more  labol^ 
ious  and,  if  that  were  possible,  even  less  fruit- 
ful than  its  quest  of  the  source  whence  came 
the  Symbol. 


250 


OP  THE  APOSTLES. 


n 


IX. 


Let   me   try   by  means   oi  a,    '.    ^  Simple 
simple  parable  to  bring  the  matter  \...^.^^.^^^^:... 
home   to   the   minds   and   understandings   of 
the  critics,  if  haply  those  doubting  Thomases 
can   be   got  to   believe    when    it    has    been 
given   them  to  "touch  and   see."     A  writes 
to   B   to   inform  him  that   he  is  sending  a 
parcel  by  C,  who  is  well  known  to  both.     In 
due  time  C  arrives  with  the  parcel,  and  hands 
it  to  B,  telling  him  that  this  is  the  parcel  A 
had  sent  him.     B  jots  down  in  his  notebook 
the  fact  of  his  having  received  from  A  the 
parcel  in  question,  and  gives  a  description  of 
its  contents.     In  ordinary  life,  X,  Y,  or  Z,  on 
reading  the  entry  in  B's    notebook,   would 
never  dream  of  doubting  that  it  was  correct — 
unless  he  had  positive  proof  that  B  was  a  liar 
and  deceiver.     Well,  A  is  the  Apostle  John, 
C  is  Polycarp,  his  disciple,  and  B  is  Irenaeus, 
who  sat  at  the  feet  of  Polycarp  and  got  from 
him  the  Creed  which  he  describes  for  us  in  his 
works,  and  describes  in  such  a  way  as  to  enable 
us  to  identify  it  with  Tertullian's  Rule  of  Faith 

251 


ill 


THE  SYMBOL 

and  the  Symbol  of  the  Roman  Church.  Either, 
then,  Irenaeus  is  a  liar,  or  his  Baptismal  Creed 
has  the  Apostles  for  its  authors. 

If  earUer  writers   of  the   second   century, 
Ignatius,  Polycarp,   Justin,    or   the   nameless 
author   of   the  DidacM,  gave   us  a   definite 
"outline  of  teaching"  or  "pattern  of  sound 
words,"  other  than  the  Creed  of  TertuUian  and 
Irenaeus,  and  assured  us  that  they  got  it  from 
the  Apostles,  the  case  would  be  different.   But 
either  they  are  silent  altogether,  or  the  allu- 
sions they  do  make  to  a  form  of  teaching  are 
just  such  as  we  should  expect  from  men  who 
had  a  definite  Creed  but  forbore,  as  did  the 
Apostles  before  them,  to  set  it  forth  in  writing. 

X. 

When,  therefore,  Harnack, 
with  his  customary  assurance, 
tells  us  that,  *'  There  did  actually  exist  in 
the  East  (in  Asia  Minor  or,  as  the  case  may 
be,  Asia  Minor  and  Syria),  as  early  as  the 
beginning  of  the  second  century,  inter  aha 
a  christological  m"'"?^"  which  is  most  inti- 
mately rekted  to   the  second  article  of  the 

253 


Harnack's 
Guesswork. 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

Roman  creed  "  (p.  69),  he  does  but  thrust  his 
crude  guesses   upon   us   for   historical   facts. 
What  warrant  has  he  for  the  assumption  of  a 
phirality  of  formulas  implied  in  his  inter  alia 
and   expressed   in   his  christological  iJ^d^im  re- 
lated   to  but  not  identical   with   the   second 
article  of  the  Roman  Creed?     Not  the  least 
shred  of  real  warrant.     Ignoring  the  so  patent 
fact  that  the  Symbol  was  not  a  written  creed, 
and  taking  no  account  of  the  Discipline  of  the 
Secret,  he  mistakes  for  confessional  formulas 
what  are  really  but  fragments  of  the  Symbol. 
St.  John  has  but  one  "  teaching  "  for  his  dis- 
ciples to  believe  in,  and  for  the  stranger  to 
"bring  "  to  them  in  token  of  fellowship  in  the 
same  Faith.     St.   Paul  knows   of  but   "one 
Lord,  one  Faith,  one  Baptism,"  one  "  outline 
of  teaching,"  one  "  pattern  of  sound  words," 
one  "  deposit,"  which  his  disciples  are  to  guard 
and  to  hand  on  to  other  faithful  men.     St. 
Polycarp  speaks  of  but  one  "  word  delivered  to 
us  from  the  beginning,"  and  St.  Justin  of  one 
"  Confession  in  the  Christ  of  God."     Irenaeus 
has  but  one  "  Rule  of  Truth  "  which  one  Bap- 
tism bestows  on  believers  throughout  all  the 

253 


'^ 


THE  SYMBOL 

world,  and  Tertullian*s  Tessera  is  "  one,  sole, 
unchangeable,   and  irreformable."     We   con- 
clude, then,  that  Harnack's  alia  exist  only  in 
his  too   exuberant   imagination,   and   that  in 
reality  even  his  "  christological  M^'^^Ma  "  is  but 
another   name    for   the  many-named  Symbol. 
In  matter  o£  fact,  we  have  it  on  the  authority 
of     the    Emperor    Justinian,    in     his    Adv. 
Origenem,  that,  in   the  East,  mathema   and 
Symbol  were  used  interchangeably  to  denote 
the  Baptismal   Creed.     For  he  tells  us  that, 
in   the   Council    of   Chalcedon,   the   Fathers 
"  followed  in  all  things  the  aforesaid  symbol  or 
mathema;'  i.e.  the  Nicene-Constantinopolitan 
Creed,  and  that  the  Fathers  at  Ephesus  ^*  ana- 
thematized those  who  should  give  candidates 
for  baptism  another  [i.e.  a  different]  definition 
of  Faith,  or  symbol,  or  mathema."  ' 

»  Migne,  torn.  69,  col.  246. 


9U 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

DRAWN  UP  B7  THE  TWELVE. 

I. 

Not  the  least  interesting  chap-    •  The  Abbe 
ter  of  a  deeply  interesting  book    I    Theory.'^ 
is  that  in  which  the  AbbeFouard 
discusses  the  origin  of  the  Apostles'  Creed.^ 
He  traces  it  to  an  Apostolic  source,  but  not  to 
the   traditional    one.     Because    of    variations 
which  are  « incontestable,"  he  finds  that  he 
cannot  «  accept  \iithout  reservation  the  tradi- 
tion  which    credits    the   composition    of   the 
Symbol  to  the  Twelve  on  the  eve  of  their  sep- 
aration "  (p.  237).     He  says  : 

"^he   time  was  not  one  likely  to  produce 
tor,     lanes.     The  Church,  being  still  oriental 

^St.  Peter  and  the  First  Years  of  Christianity  (tian- 
Slated  b^  G.  F.  X.  Griffith).    Longmans,  1898. 

255 


:!'1 


THE  SYMBOL 

to  all  outward  seeming,  preached  and   medi- 
tated without  feeling  any  need  of  dogmatizmg 
on  her  beUefs.     The  disciples'   only   anxiety 
was  to  treasure  up  every  one   of  the  Master's 
words,  and  thus  embrace  the  whole  body  of  the 
truth,  not  to  compress  it  uito  a  precise  form. 
When  Rufinus   credits  the    Apostles  with  so 
much  anxiety  lest  they  should  fail  to  teach  the 
one  same  doctrine,  after  their  dispersion,  he 
forgets  that  the  Holy  Spirit  spoke  by   their 
mouth,  and  was  to  assist  them  to  the  very  last 
hour  of   their  lives.     So,  then,  we   conclude 
that  the  Creed  had  its  origin,  not  in  Jerusalem 
but  at  a  later  date,  in  Rome,  when  Peter  and 
Paul  were  nearing  the  close  of  their  lives." 

The  reasons  given  by  the  learned  Abbe  in 
support  of  this  view  are  more  specious  than 
solid.     The  ancient  tradition  has  to  be  taken 
without  reservation  or  not  at  all.     In  Leo  the 
Great  we  have  a  most  trustworthy  exponent  of 
it,  and  one  who  certainly  would  not  abate  by 
as  much  as  a  jot  or  tittle  the  prerogatives  of 
the  See  of  Peter.     Yet  he  knows  of  no  Symbol 
composed  by  SS.   Peter   and  Paul.     His    is 
duodecirn  apostolorum  totidem  signata  sen- 
tentiis — the  joint  composition  of  the  Twelve. 

256 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


n. 


The  Unai,- 
TERED  Sym- 
bol. 


Let  us  take  the  Abbess  reasons 
in  order.    Variations  in  the  form 
of  the  Symbol  are  by  no  means 
incontestable,    in  an    unqualified  sense.     The 
Symbol,  as  has  been  so  often  observed,  was  not 
first  given  in  writing,  nor  is  it  found  in  writing 
earher   than  the  fourth  century,  though  Ire- 
naeus  and   Tertullian    embody   the   drift  and 
meanmg  of  it  in  words  of  their  own,  and  there 
are  fragments  of  it  scattered  here  and  there  in 
almost  all  the  early  writings.     Rufinus  is  our 
first  witness  to  the  precise  form  in  which  it  was 
recited  by  the  candidates  for  baptism.     And  he 
tells  us  that,  while  additions,  all  of  them  in- 
considerable, were  made  « in  divers  Churches, 
yet  this  is  not  found  to  have  been  done  in  the 
Church  of  the  city  of  Rome."  ' 

Rufinus  gives  two  reasons  why  the  Roman 
Church  "  kept  her  Symbol  inviolate,"  as  St. 
Ambrose  puts  it :  (1)  that  «  heresy  never  had 
Its  origin  there,"  and  (2)  that  "  it  was  cus- 
tomary in  Rome  from  the  olden  time  for  those 
•  In  Symh.  Apoat,  n.  8  (Migne,  torn.  ?  ,  col.  339). 


17 


257 


THE  SYMBOL 

who  were  about  to  receive  baptism  to  recite  the 
Symbol  publicly,  that  is,  iu  the  hearing  of  the 
faithful ;  and  certainly  those  who  went  before 
us  in  the  faith  would  not  bear  to  hear  even  a 
single    word   added"    to    the    Creed      B^n 
questions  the  historical  accuracy  of  what  Ru- 
tinus  says  in  the  first  place,  and  remarks  that, 
"  The  comparative  freedom  from  the  assaults 
of  heresy  which  the  Roman  Church  enjoyed 
during  the  fourth  century,  when  Rome  wasthe 
refuo-e  of  Athanasius  and  Marcellus,  tended  to 
obscure  the  fact  that  during  the  second  and 
third  centuries  the  city  was  the  favored  resort 
of  false  teachers  "  (p.  58).     But  Rufinus  does 
not  say  that  heresy  was  not  taught  in  Rome  ; 
what  he  says  is  that  it  did  not  originate  there. 
And  this  seems  to  be  true,  at  least  in  the  sense 
that  those  who  taught  heresy  there  were  not 
members  of  the  local  Roman  Church,  but  came 
from  without.     Thus  Valentinus,  and  Cerdon, 
and  Marcion,  heresiarchs  of  the  second  cen- 
tury, came  to  Rome  from  the  East,  where  they 
were  imbued  with  the  errors  "  of  Simon  and  his 
sect,"  as  Irenaeus  bears  witness ;  ^  also  {lb.  n.  4), 

»  Bk.  1 ;  c.  27  ;  n.  1 ; 

258 


OF  THE  AP0STLR9. 

where  he  describes  them  as  the  «  disciples  and 
successors  of  Simon  the  sorcerer  of  Samaria." 
Novatus  and  Novatian,  in  the  following  cen- 
tury, were  not  Romans,  the  one  being  an 
African,  the  other  a  Spaniard ;  and  i  hev 
taught  no  new  heresy.  The  false  doctrines 
which  they  spread  had  their  root  in  the  i»Ion- 
tanist  error. 

Gt.  Ambrose,  or   whoever  the  author  is  of 
Explanatio  SymhoU  ad  Initiandos,   touches 
the  fundamental  reason  why  the  Roman  Church 
kept   her   Symbol   unclianged   when  he  calls 
attention  to  the  singular  veneration  with  which 
the  See  of  Peter,  the  Apostolic  See,  regarded 
the  Apostolic  Symbol.     "If,"  he   says,  "we 
may  not  take  anything  from  or  add  anythino- 
to  the  writings  of  one  Apostle,  we  certainly 
may  not  take  anything  from  or  add  anything 
to  the  Symbol  which  we  accept  as  having  been 
composed  and  handed   down    to   us   by    the 
(twelve)  Apostles.     This  is  the  Symbol  which 
the  Roman  Church  possesses—the  Church  over 
which  Peter,  the  chief  of  the  Apostles  presided, 
and  to  which  he  brought  the  common  formula 
(of  Faith) —  eommunem  sententiam." 

259 


THE  SYMBOL 


III. 


But  let  us  grant  the  variations   i^J^J^C"* 

(in  the  form,  not  in  the  articles    • 

of  Faith   embodied)  in   the    Symbol,   mcon- 
testable.      Is    not    the   objection   which  the 
Abb^   bases   upon   them   a    sword   that   cuts 
both  ways?    Is   a  Creed  composed  by  the 
Apostles  Peter  and  Paul,  in  Rome,  when  near- 
intr  the  close  of  their  lives,  in  any  essential 
respect  less  venerable  or  sacrosanct  a  formu- 
lary than  a  Creed  composed  by  the  Twelve,  in 
Jerusalem,  on  the   eve  of    their  dispersion? 
Singularly  enough,  this  objection,  which  Bum, 
too,  urges,  as  we  have  seen,  and,  without  being 
aware  of  it,  satisfactorily  solves,  is  solved  by 
the  Abb^  also,  in  the  following  passage,  with- 
out being  himself  the  wiser  for  it : 

«  Nevertheless  let  us  call  to  mind  the  fact 
again  that  it  [the  Symbol]  was  never  regarded 
as  an  inspired  witness,  an  immutable  text,  m 
the  same  sense  as  our  Holy  Books.  It  was  a 
formula  of  initiation,  a  Profession  of  J^aith, 
hence  Christians  were  careful  in  preserving  ks 
exact  terms ;  but  it  was  not  a  document  o 
revelation,  and  hence  the  perfect  freedom  with 

260 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

Which  outside  of  Rome,  in  the  first  centuries, 

moHifl-f ''''•'' v^^l  '^''^^^  they  proceeded  to 
modity  its  primitive  form."* 

While  this  disposes  of  the  objection,  it  is 
not   Itself  correct    in   every  particular.      The 
feymbol  was  not  regarded  as  an  "immutable 
test,    for  the  simple  reason   that  it  was  not 
from  the  first  a  "  text  "  at  all.     But  it  was  re- 
garded as  immutable,  the  truths  it  embodied 
being  immutable.     A    -document   of  revela- 
tion     It  was  not,  it  is  true,  but  an  authentic 
summary  of  the  Christian  revelation,  an  «  out- 
line »  of  oral  teaching,   a  « pattern    of  sound 
words.       It  was  not,  nor  did  it  purport  to  be  a 
new  revelation,  but  a  summing  up  of  what  had 
been   already   revealed.     At   the    same  time, 
there  is  no  reason  for  assuming  that  it  was  not 
held  to  be  an  inspired  witness,  seeing  that  the 
authors  of  it  were  inspired  and  infallible— not 
less  inspired  and  infallible  when  they  delivered 
their  message  by  word  of  mouth  than  when 
they  delivered  it  in  writing.     Li  point  of  fact 
the  author  of  the  Explanatio  deems  the  Sym- 

*  lb.  245. 

2G1 


ii^i 


bol  to  have  greater  aathorlty  than  the  writings 
!f  any  one  Apostle,  as  being  the  jomt  work  of 
of  any  one  ^p        .  .  j     ^f  p^ith  given 

tZ  though   it  has   no  greater  .ntnns.c  an- 
thority. 


RUFINTTS 

Speaks  for 
Himself. 


IV. 

The  Abb^  does  Rufinus  less 
than  justice  when  he  represents 

him  as  "crediting  the  Apostles 

^th  so  much  anxiety  lest  they  f ""    f  ^^. 

-t:'r-ru/nr:;afi:rtit.: 

rr:;  thus  about  to  separate  from  one  a. 

r:?=::>:r:--yLdg.ein 

different  directions    one  sho.Udse^fortl^ 
those  who  were  nivited  to  receive 
Christ  somethins  different  from  jluvt  J-as  se 
,  u      "     TJiifinus  in  thinking  ot  tne 

f    th  by  ano  her       ^^^^'  ,^^  ^^^^^^,^ 

Profession  oi  *.iitn  v>nii-i  .iMt.rk  16: 

according  to  the  Divine  command  (Mark 


!il!^ 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

16),  of  all  those  who  should  seek  to  enter  the 
Church  by  baptism.  Now,  while  there  was  not 
the  least  danger  that  the  Apostles  themselves 
would  fail  to  teach  the  same  doctrine,  in  a 
general  way,  there  was  grave  danger  that  those 
who  came  after  them  should  not.  What  is 
more,  nothing  short  of  a  miracle  would  have 
made  the  Apostles  individually  embody  the 
self-same  points  of  faith  and  the  same  number 
of  articles  in  the  formulary  that  was  to  be  ten- 
dered to  the  candidates  for  baptism,  had  they 
not  collectively  agreed  upon  it  before  their 
separation. 

V. 


A>"  Addi- 
tional. 

PllOOF 


Here  we  have  a  fresh  proof, 
and  an  irrefragable  one,  of  the 
truth  of  the  ancient  tradition. 
In  the  latter  half  of  the  second  century,  the 
Baptismal  Creed  of  all  the  Churches,  both  in 
the  East  and  in  the  West,  was,  so  Irenjeus  and 
Tertullian  assure  us,  one  and  the  same.  How 
came  it  to  be  one  and  the  sauie  ?  If  it  had 
been  composed  in  Rome  by  SS.  Peter  and 
Paul,  as  the  Abbe  Fouard  supposes  it  to  have 

2G3 


THE  SYMBOL 


t 


been,  it  could  not  have  made  its  vaj  into  the 
other  Churches,  for  each  Church  founded  by 
an  Apostle  would  cling  to  its  own  Confession. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  its  own  Confession,  the 
Confession  it  got  from  its  founder,  tallied  ex- 
actly with  the  Roman  one,  this,  failing  a  pre- 
existing agreement  between  the  founders,  could 
not  be  without  a  miracle — and  miracles  hold  a 
first  place  in  the  great  category  of  entia  that 
are  not  to  be  multiplied  without  necessity. 

It  will  be  said  that  this  reasoning  rests  on 
an  assumption  which  may  be  challenged,  the 
assumption,  namely,  that  each  of  the  Apostolic 
Churches  had  a  Baptismal  Creed  from  the  first. 
"The  Church,"  we  are  told,  "being  still 
oriental  to  all  outward  seeming  [what  time  the 
Apostles  were  all  together  in  Jerusalem], 
preached  and  meditated  without  feeling  any 
need  of  dogmatizing  on  her  beliefs."  This, 
rather,  is  the  assumption,  and  one  not  recon- 
cilable with  known  facts.  The  Church  from 
the  Day  of  Pentecost  onward,  in  obedience  to 
the  Master's  injunction,  did  more  than  preach 
and  meditate — she  baptized,  and,  when  there 
was  question  of  adults,  baptized  only  such  as 

2G4 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

made  a  profession  of  faith  in  the  truths  of  the 
Chnstian  Religion.  Is  it  not  fatuity  (the 
word  IS  almost  a  mild  one)  to  think  that  the 
Apostles  failed  to  realize  that  it  was  their  place 
as  the  first  and  supreme  pastors  of  the  Church 
to  determine,  once  and  for  all,  what  truths  of 
the  Christian  Religion  should  be  embodied  in 
that  profession,  and  in  what  "  form  of  sound 
words  ?  " 


VI. 

One  more  citation  from  the 
Abbe,  and  we  have  done  with 
this  phase  of  the  subject.  He  is 
setting  forth  the  reasons  which  led  him  to  con- 
jecture that  the  Symbol  was  composed  in 
Kome : 


Primary  Pur- 

pose  op  the 

Symbol. 


.  ^r"l^5?'''f.P^^^^  *"^  *""e  alike  had 
changed  Difficulties  and  divisions  came  to 
trouble  the  unanimous  faith  of  the  first  day 
The  doctrines  of  these  innovators  were  not  ;« 
much  to  be  feared  as  their  .speech,  for  it  spread 
Uke  a  cancer,  masking  its  inward  corruption 
undej  a  profane  show  of  new  words  (2  Tim. 
-■  1'  •      lo  shun  these  pitfalls  of  speech. 

^05 


2  •  1 7^ 


THE  SYMBOL 

it  behooved  their  leaders  to  arm  themselves  with 
certain  fixed  terms.  Hitherto  the  Apostolic 
preaching  had  aimed  solely  at  making  Jesus 
better  known  and  loved.  Now  the  hour  was 
come  for  embodying  their  teaching  in  a  few 
essential  dogmas,  which  all  could  commit  to 
memory,  and  hold  as  a  safeguard  against 
heresy."  (p.  238). 

This  takes  it  for  granted  that  the  primary 
purpose  of  the  Symbol  was  to  serve  as  a  safe- 
guard of  the  Faith  and  a  test  of  truth  and 
error,  whereas  its  primary  purpose   was   con- 
fessional and  catechetical.     "  With  the  heart," 
says  St.  Paul,  "  we  believe  unto   justice,  but 
with  the  mouth  confess^  :   is  made  unto  salva- 
tion."—Rom.  10 :  10.     ir     s  pleasant  to  find 
oneself  for  once  in  accord  with  Harnack,  who 
says  on  this  point :  "  The  purposes  for  which 
it  [the  Symbol]  was  composed  can  be  determined 
with  certainty  from  our  knowledge  of  its  uses  : 
it  sprang  out  of  the  missionizing  and  catechi- 
zing function  of  the  Church,  and  was  origin- 
ally merely  the  confession  to  be  used  at  bap- 
tism (ter  mergitamur,  amplius  aliquid  respon- 
dentes  quam  Dominus  in  EvangeUo  determina- 

266 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

vit.— TertuUian)."  3     Jt  jg  singular   that  one 
who  was  clear-sighted  enough  to  see  this  should 
not  also  have  seen  the  consequence  logically 
involved  in   it.     Since   the    missionizing   and 
catechizing  function  of  the  Church  began  on  a 
world-scale  when  the  Apostles  set  themselves 
to  "  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,"  the 
formulary  which  has  ever  been   the  basis  of 
catechetical  instruction   in  the   Church   must 
have  come  into  exist^^nce  about  the  same  time. 
Furthermore,  error  was   to   be  met  from  the 
very  first.     The  Apostles  knew  from  the  first 
that  heresies  would  arise,  for  the  Master  had 
clearly    foretold    this  (Matt.  7  :  15).       It  was 
needful,  therefore,  that,  from   the   first,  they 
should  make  provision  against  heresy. 

'The  Nineteenth  Centnnj,  for  July,  180.3;  art.  "  Tlie 
Apostles'  Creed,"  translated  from  the  Germau  by  Mary  A. 
Ward. 


26^ 


THE  SYMBOL 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  KERYGMA  AND  THE  SYMBOL. 

L 


The  Rule  of 
Faith. 


The   more   recent  writers  on 
the    Creed    assume    Tertullian's 
"Rule  of   Faith"   and     Irenaeus's  "Rule  of 
Truth,"  (which  he,  too,  in  one  place  names  the 
"  Rule  of  Faith  ")  '    to   be  identical  with  the 
ApostoUc  Symbol.     It  is  true   that  Harnack 
tries  to  show  that  the  Rule  of  IrenaBus  was  not 
at  all  a  Baptismal  Creed  ;  that  it  was  drawn  up 
independently  by  Irenaeus  himself.     But  this 
opinion  of  Harnack's,  singular  in  every  sense 
of  the  word,  has  been  shown  elsewhere   to  be 
untenable.'     One  who  should    read  only  the 
later  works  on  the  Creed  would  not  even  know 

1  .4dtJ.  Haer.  bk.  1 ;  c.  23  ;  n.  1. 
»  C£.  Chap.  III. 

268 


U^iW 


OP  THE  APOSTLES. 


that  there  ever  has  been  question  at  any  time 
of  the  «  Rule  of  Faith  "  being  other  than  the 
Symbol.     Yet   the   Catholic  Probst   and   the 
Anglican  Swainson  have  maintained  that  the 
two  are  not  identical.     And  Dom  Gasquet,  in 
an  article  contributed  to   The  DuhUn  Review 
for   October,    1888,    deems    their    arguments 
"  conclusive."  ^     At  the  same  time  he  holds 
that  *'  the  distinction  between  the  Creed  and 
the  Rule  of  Faith  must  not  be  too   strongly 
pressed."     The  fact  that  the  later  critics  sim- 
ply overlook  these  arguments  seems  to  imply 
that  they  attach  little  weight  to  them.     Nor 
are  they  undeserving  of  being  thus  ignored. 

II. 

We  are  told   that  the  Creed 
and   the    Rule    of    Faith   "are 
clearly  distinguished  by  Clement 
of  Alexandria."     Let   us   first   of   all   try  to 
get   a   right    understanding    of    this   matter. 
When    It    is    said   that   the   Creed   and   the 
Rule  of  Faith  are  distinct,  the  implication  is 
that  the  latter,  too,  is   a   definite  formulary. 

•  lb.  p.  279. 

269 


r  '■; 


Not  jl  Defi- 
nite Formu- 
lary. 


THE  SYMBOL 

Swainson  in  fact  speaks  of  both  the  one  and 
the  other  as  "  documents,"  ^  though  all  Chris- 
tian Antiquity  attests  that  the  Creed  was  not 
a  "  document "  at  all  from  the  first,  but  an 
oral  confession  of  the  Faith.     If  by  the  "  Rule 
of  Faith  "  we  understand,  not  a  definite  formu- 
lary, but  Apostolic  Tradition  in  general,  or  the 
teaching  of  the  Church  or  the  Fathers,  or  the 
exposition  of  the  Creed  given  orally  by  those 
intrusted   with   the  task  of   preparing  candi- 
dates for  baptism,  the  distinction  between  the 
Symbol  and  the  Rule  of  Faith  is  freely  granted. 
But  then  it  is   a  perfectly  futile   distinction. 
No  one  would  dream  of  identifying  the  Sym- 
bol with   Apostolic  Tradition,  of  which   it  is 
but  a  small,  though  exceedingly  important  part, 
or  with  the  preaching  of  the  Church  and  teach- 
ing of  her  doctors,  of  which  it  is  but  the  briefest 
kind  of  summary. 

*  The  Moene  and  Apostles'  Creed,  p.  9. 


270 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


III. 


v   5! 


A  Plentiful 

Lack  of 
Clearness. 


As  regards  Clement  of  Alex- 
andria, the  only  thing  that  really 
is  clear  in  his  works  touching  this 
question  of  the  Creed  is  a  plentiful  lack  of 
clearness.  He  is  vague  and  obscure  of  set 
purpose.  Whatever  else  he  makes  a  mystery 
of,  of  this  he  makes  none.  Over  and  over 
again  he  warns  the  reader  that  it  is  only  "  to 
him  who  is  capable  of  receiving  in  secret  the 
things  traditionally  delivered  that  that  which  is 
concealed  shall  be  made  known."  s  Clement 
shows  himself  ever  most  careful  not  "  to  com- 
mit to  writing  things  which,"  as  he  says  a  little 
further  on,  "  we  are  on  our  guard  even  to 
speak  about."  He  does  in  one  place,  after 
making  a  distinct  reference  to  the  Baptismal 

Creed   as   ^57"  ijno^oyiav  njv  icpn^  Tiia^ «  \\^q   Cou- 

fession  that  we  have " — ,  go  on  to  men- 
tion "  the  ecclesiastical  rule,  and  especially  that 
profession  which  is  made  about  things  of  su- 
preme    importance."  ^      That     "  profession  " 


»  Strom.  1.  1.  c.  1, 

«  Strom.  VIL  c,  15 :  n.  90. 


■m: 


271 


MICROCOPY   RESOIUTION   TEST  CHART 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


A    APPLIED  IM/^GE 


1653  East  Mam  Str««i 

Rochtjlur,    Nto   York         1*609       USA 

(716)    482  -  0300  -  Phon. 

(716)   288-5989  -  Fo« 


THE  SYMBOL 

(iiioXoyiav'^  is  again  the  Creed.  What  "  the  ec- 
clesiastical rule  "  is  we  can  only  guess.  But 
as  he  speaks  in  the  preceding  sentence  of  the 
duty  of  "  the  good  man  not  to  lie,  and  not  to 
go  back  on  what  he  has  promised,"  where  the 
context  implies  an  allusion  to  the  baptismal 
vows,  we  inay  infer  that  "  the  ecclesiastical 
rule "  which  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Christian 
not  to  transgress  is  the  whole  obligation  taken 
in  baptism,  which  binds  the  neophyte,  among 
other  things,  especially  to  keep  the  Confession 
of  the  Faith.  For  the  rest,  so  effectually  has 
St.  Clement  concealed  the  mysteries  from  the 
uninitiated  that  Harnack  is  in  doubt  whether 
the  Saint  does  or  "  does  not  in  one  place  as- 
sume the  existence  of  a  fixed  symbol,"  and 
says  that,  in  either  case,  "  there  is  no  art  that 
can  discover  how  this  symbol  ran."  ' 

IV. 


St.  Cyprian's       gt.  Cyprian  is  said  to  distin- 

' guish     "even   more   explicitly" 

than  St.    Clement   between    the 
Creed  and  the  Rule  of  Faith.     If  it  could  be 

">  The  Apo»tle»'  Creed,  p.  67. 

272 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


S  ;i 


! 


shown  from  other  sources  that  there  existed  in 
Cyprian's  time  a  doctrinal  formulary  akin  to 
the  Creed  but  distinct  from  it,  Iiis  "  lex,"  in 
one  instance,  might  perhaps  be  taken  to  mean 
this  formulary.     As  it  is,  the  assumption  that 
it  does  mean  a  formulary  at  all  is  founded  on 
nothing  better  than  a  blind  guess.     Cyprian 
says  that  "  we  and  the  schismatics  (Novatian) 
have  not  one  law  of  the  Symbol,  nor  the  same 
interrogation." «      But   the   Symbol   itself   in 
Cyprian's  time  was  known  as  the  "  law  "  and 
"  rule  "  of  the  Faith.     So  TertuUian,  in  the 
earlier  part  of  the  third  century,  always  calls 
it,  and  if  any  man  can  be  said  to  have  known 
TertuUian  by  heart,  that  man's  name  is  Cy- 
prian.     Now,  what  a  law  needs  to  apply  it  is 
not  another  law  but  authentic  interpretation, 
and  this  seems  to  be  the  force  of  "  symboli 
legem  "  in  Cyprian.     "  For  when  they  ask," 
he  goes  on  to  say,  "  Dost  thou  believe  in  the 
remission  of  sins  and  eternal  life  through  the 
holy  Church?  they  lie   in   the    interrogation 
itself,  seeing  that  they  have  not  the  Church."- 
Yet,  plain  it  is  that  they  had  the  Church,  as  to 

•  Ad  Magnum,  o.  7. 

18  273 


THE  SYMBOL 


the  letter.  But  "  holy  Church "  meant  one 
thing  to  them  and  quite  another  thing  to 
Catholics.  In  other  words,  they  differed  from 
Catholics,  not  in  the  letter  of  the  Symbol,  but 
in  the  interpretation  of  it. 

In  the  earlier  part  of  this  same  paragraph, 
Cyprian  distinguishes  between  "  law "  and 
"  symbol,"  where  he  states  the  objection  that 
"  Novatian  holds  the  same  law  which  the 
Catholic  Church  holds,  and  baptizes  with  the 
same  symbol  that  we  do."  But  who  can  say 
for  certain  what  "  law  "  means  here  ?  It  may 
mean  the  whole  discipline  of  the  Church  re- 
garding baptism  and  its  administration,  or  it 
may  mean  the  same  as  "  law  of  the  symbol " 
above  referred  to — or  it  may  bear  any  one  of 
several  other  possible  meanings.  "  I  conceive," 
are  the  words  of  Swainson,  the  first  word  '  law  ' 
represents  what  Tertullian  calls  the  rule  of 
faith  "  (p.  43).  Now,  everybody  to  day  takes 
Tertullian's  Rule  of  Faith  to  be  the  Symbol. 
So  much  for  the  conjectures  of  historical  criti- 
cism. When  men  leave  the  beaten  path  of 
Catholic  tradition,  and  try  to  make  their  way 
by  the  feeble  and  fitful  light   of   individual 

274 


OF  THE  APOSTLEg. 

reason,  they  do  but  grope  about  in  the  dark 
and  guess  at  the  trath.  The  ground  to  be 
gone  over  in  the  quest  of  the  Symbol  is  very 
uncertain  and  difficult  ground.  AVith  Faith  to 
light  one's  steps,  and  by  following  the  foot- 
prints of  Tradition,  one  may  hope  to  find  one's 
way.  Without  such  help  as  this,  one  is  as  apt 
to  go  astray  as  is  the  traveler  who  has  to 
make  his  way  at  night  and  alone  in  a  trackless 
wilderness. 


yllli  ^^ 


V. 


But    St.    Cyril    of   Jerusalem    •  Light  and 
and   St.   Isidore  are  said   to  be    l^^^^!"^^].. 
"  decisive    witnesses "    to   the    distinction    in 
question.       Of   St.    Cyril   and    his   witness   I 
am    not    in  position     to     say    anything. 

But  perhaps  it  will  not  be  unfair  to  judge 
his  testimony  by  that  of  the  Saint  who 
is  bracketed  with  him.  Swainson  cites  St. 
Isidore  "  to  show  that  early  in  the  seventh 
century  a  distinction  was  made  between  the 
Symbol  and  a  Rule  of  Faith,"  and  tlien  passes 
on  to  the  consideration   of   his   subject,  the 

275 


THE  SYMBOL 


origin  of  the  Creed,  to  wit,  "  with  the  assist- 
ance of  the  light  which  "  '  ■)  said  distinction 
"  pours  forth  "  (p.  10).  Bat  if  the  light  be 
darkness,  how  great  is  the  darkness  !  It  is 
clear  from  St.  Isidore's  words  and  the  descrip- 
tion he  gives  of  the  so-called  "  Rule  of  Faith," 
that  it  is  not  at  all  a  definite  formulary.'  In 
fact  it  is  more  than  doubtful  whether  the  title 
of  the  chapter  in  which  he  treats  of  it,  "  De 
Regula  Fidei,"  is  the  Saint's  own  :  it  is  more 
likely  the  editor's.  St.  Isidore  himself  speaks 
of  what  he  calls  "  after  the  Symbol  of  the 
Apostles,  the  most  certain  faith  which  our 
doctors  have  handed  on,"  and  at  the  end  says : 
"  This  is  the  Catholic  tradition  of  the  Faith 
in  its  true  integrity."  A  glance  at  the  con- 
tents of  this  chapter  is  enough  to  show  that 
what  St.  Isidore  presents  is  a  summary  of  the 
traditional  teaching  of  the  Church  as  set  forth 
by  the  Fathers,  and  especially  by  St.  Augus- 
tine. Among  the  items  of  this  "  most  certain 
faith  "  we  find,  "  And  that  the  origin  of  the 
soul   is   uncertain."      St.    Augustine   had   so 

»  De  Ecd.  Offlciia,  c.  24  (Migne,  torn.  80,  eols.  817,  818,  819, 
820). 

276 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

ruled  it  in  his  day.'<*     Again,  "  That  no  one  toy 
his    own    unaided   power    is  incorporated   in 
Christ,"  where  we   recognize   once  more    St. 
Augustine's    teaching   against  the  Pelagians. 
In  short,  nothing  can  be  plainer  than  that  St. 
Isidore's  "  most  certain  faith  "  was  not  at  all 
a  definite  formulary.     Nor  does   it  bear  any 
but  the  remotest  resemblance  to  the  "  Keryg- 
ma  "  of  Origen,  and  the  "  Rule  of  Faith  "  to 
which  TertuUian    and   Irenaeus  so  often    ap- 
peal.    It  ill  becomes  Canon  Swainson,  there- 
fore, to  rail  at  Pusey  and  Newman  because  of 
some  trifling  inaccuracies  in  translation,  when 
he  himself  founds  his  spurious  distinction  be- 
tween the  Symbol  and  the  Rule  of  Faith,  first 
of  all,  on  what  St.  Isidore  sets  forth  in  this 
chapter.     A  man  with  half  an  eye,  let  alone  a 
person  of  Swainson's  perspicacity,  might  have 
seen  that  Isidore's  "  most  certain  faith  "  is  but 
the  Saint's  own  summary  of  what  the  Fathers 
teach.     To  have   set  it  side  by  side  with  the 


MCf.  Ep.  153,  al.  7  (Op.  Aug.  torn.  2),  where  the  Saint 
speaks  of  the  origin  of  the  soul  as  "involved  in  densest 
darkness  "  (n.  7),  though  he  affirms  the  soul  to  be  a  created 
thing  and  immortal  (lb.).    Cf.  also  bis  works  passim. 

377 


THE  SYMBOL 


Symbol  as  a  distinct  formulary  and  "Rule 
of  Faith,"  was,  if  not  consciously  dishonest 
(which  no  one  supposes),  very  uncritical  of 
Swainson,  very  misleading,  and  very  mis- 
chievous. 


VI. 


A  Case  of 
Felo  de  Se. 


We  are  further  told  that,  "  The 
Rule  of  Faith,  as  St.  Irenaeus 
says,  ( IV.  26,  4.)  was  committed  to  the  Bishop* 
while  the  Creed  was  intended  for  the  laity."  " 
Turning  to  the  passage  in  Irenseus  to  which 
the  reference  is  given,  we  find  what  the  Saint 
says  to  be  that  "  those  who  have  Church  suc- 
cession from  the  Apostles  .  .  .  both  guard 
that  Faith  of  ours,  the  object  of  which  is  one 
God  who  made  all  things ;  and  increase  that 
love  which  points  to  the  Son  of  God,  .  .  .  and 
expound  to  us  the  Scriptures  without  any 
danger."  If  one  brings  to  the  reading  of  this 
passage  a  mind  imbued  with  the  preconceived 
idea  that  there  is  a  distinction  between  the 
Creed  and  the  Kerygma  or  Rule  of  Faith,  he 

11  The  Dublin  Review,  Oct.  1888,  p.  280. 

378 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

may  possibly  find  evidence  in  it  of  the  truth  of 
the  statement  cited  above.     Otherwise  he  will 
discern  in  "  that  Faith  of  ours,  the  object  of 
which  is  one  God  who  made  all  things,"  a  plain 
allusion  to  the  Symbol,  of  which  we  have  here 
the  first  article.     But  the  whole  matter  may  be 
cut  short  by  a  reductlo  ad  ahsurdum  of  the 
argument   for    the   alleged    distinction.     On 
the  preceding  page  '%  Dom  Gasquet  had  said  ; 
"They— St.    Irenieus,  TertuUian,  and   Nova- 
tian — use  a  term  for  the  Kerygma  which  we  do 
not  find  in  Scripture  ;  z«i"iv  t/;?  dAr/ .'>££'«?,  <  Retrula 
fidei'  or  'veritatis.'     But   in    comparing   the 
passages  I  refer  to,  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
same  thing  is  intended  by  all  these  different 
phrases."      Now,    St.    Irenaeus    tells    us    ex- 
pressly that   the  Christian    "  receives  by   his 
baptism  the  unchangeable  Rule  of  Faith." '^ 
If,  then,  the  Symbol  and  Rule  of  Faith  were 
not  one  and  the  same,  and  if  it  were  to  the 
Bishop  only  the  latter  was  committed,  it  would 
follow  that,  according  to  Irenaeus,  only  Bishops 
were  baptized  in  the  early  Church!     Under- 


"  lb.  p.  279 

w  Bk.  1 ;  c  0 ;  n.  1. 


279 


I 


THE  SYMBOL 


stand  what  you  will  by  ««'''"^  ^^i?  aAij.9et'a9,  it  is 
certain,  if  Irenaeus  is  a  trustwortty  witness, 
that  baptism  bestowed  it  on  believers,  on  lay- 
men, priest,     md  bishops.     "And  neither  he 
who  is  altogether   mighty  in  speeoh   among 
those  who  preside  in  our  Chu.ches,  will  utter 
anything  different  from  this  ;  nor  will  he  who 
is  weak  in  discourse  abate  aught  of  the  Tra- 
dition." '*     And  again.     "  This  Taith  such  as 
have  believed  without  letters,  in  our  discourse 
indeed   are  barbarians,  .  .  .  but   because   of 
their  faith  are  extremely  wise,  and  plense  God 
.  .  .     And  if  any  one  should  tell  them  of  the 
inventions  of  the  heretics,  conversing  in  their 
language,  presently  they  would  shuo  their  ears, 
and  think  they  could  not  fly  far  enough,  not 
enduring  so  much  as  to  he^r  tne  blasphemous 
talk.     Thus  by  that  old  Tradition  Apostolic, 
they  admit  not  even  to  a  passing  glance  of  the 
mind  any  of  their  monstrous  sayings."  '^    What 
is  this  "  old  Tradition  Apostolic  "  ?     It  is  the 
Rule  of  Truth—"  this  rule  "  to  which  ''  con- 
sent many  nations  of  the  barbarians,  those  I 


w  Bk.  1 ;  c.  10 ;  n.  2. 
15  Bk.  3  ;  c.  4 ;  n.  3. 


380 


% 


OF  THE  APOSTLES, 

mean  who  believe  in  Christ,  having  salvation 
written  by  the  Spirit  in  their  hearts,  without 
paper  and  ink,  and  diligently  keeping  the  old 
Tradition  :  who  believe  in  one  God  the  Framer 
of  Heaven  and  Earth  and  of  all  things  that  are 
in  them,  by  Christ  Jesus   the   Son    of   God. 
Who  for  His  surpassing  love's   sake  towards 
His  creatures,  submitted  to  the  birth  which  was 
to  be  of  the  Virgin,  Himself  by  Himself  unit- 
ing  Man   to  God;  who  suifered  also    under 
Pontius  Pilate,  and  rose  again,  and  beino-  re- 
ceived in  brightness,  will  come  in  glory  as  the 
Saviour  of  them  that  are  saved,  ':nd  the  Judge 
of  them  that  are  judged,  ana  to   send   into 
eternal  fire  them  that  counterfeit  the  truth  and 
despite  His  Father  and  H^s  coming."  '^     These 
passages  serve  to  discredit  utterly  the  distinc- 
tion which   critics    have  sought  to  foist  into 
Irenaeus,  between  a  "  Rule  of  Faith  "  alleged 
to  be  "  committed  to  the  F'shop  "  a.one,  and  a 
"  Creed  intended  for  the  laity,"  wherein  were 
not  contained  "  the  strictly  theological  portions 
of   the   former,  which   were    directed  against 
heresy."     .renaeus  himself  disowns  and  spurns 
"lb. 

281 


THE  SY5IB0L 


the  spurious  distinction,  delivering  the  "  rule  " 
to  men  who  receive  it  "  without  letters  "  and 
use  it  to  some  purpose,  as  he  makes  plain  to 
us,  against  heresy. 


VII. 


The  Rule 

AND  Symbol 

One. 


Justly  have  the  later  critics  con- 
cluded that  the  "Rule"  of  Ire- 
nseus  and  Tertullian  is  the  "  Sym- 
bol "  of  Rufinus  and  Augustine,  which  the  latter 
also  calls  a  "  Rule."  In  form  only  do  they 
differ ;  in  substance  and  meaning  they  are  the 
same.  Either  the  "  Rule  of  Faith  "  is  anoth;  - 
name  for  the  Creed  in  Tertullian  and  Ir^naeus, 
or  these  ancient  writers  lay  a  trap  for  the 
reader  into  which  he  cannot  choose  but  walk. 
If  xa'^w'j  or  "  rule  "  means  one  thing  when  com- 
mitted to  the  keeping  of  the  Bishop  and 
another  when  delivered  to  the  unlettered  bar- 
barian— well,  we  ought  to  have  been  warned 
that  it  does,  or  a  different  word  should  have 
been  used  in  the  one  case  from  what  is  used 
in  the  other.  And,  then,  a  "  canon  "  or  '*  rule  " 
is,  by  its  very  definition,  fixed  and  unchanging 
in  its  sense  and  in  its  wording.     But  if  you 

282 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

apply  this  test  to  the  formularies  and  frag- 
ments of  formularies  set  forth  in  Ir.  ajeus  ami 
Tertullian,  you  will  find  not  one  canon  or  rule 
but  many  canons  and  many  rules.     And  yet 
both  IrenaBus  and  Tertulli;   .  emphatically  de- 
clare their  «  Rule  "  to  be   "  one  "  and  "  un- 
changeable."    There  is  just  one  way  out  of 
this  tangle,  but  they  have  strayed  far  from 
that   way   who   make   confusion    worse    con- 
founded  by   introducing   a   "  Kerygma "    or 
"Rule  of  Faith,"  distinct  from  the  Creed  but 
so  nearly  related  to  it  that  the  plain  man  can- 
not for  the  life  of  him   see  where  the  distinc- 
tion comes  in.     The  key  to  the  whole  situation 
is  furnished  by  the  Discipline  of  the  Secret. 
Both  Irenaeus  and  Tertullian  are  kept   back 
from  giving  us  the  Creed  in  the  very  phrase  by 
the  prohibition  against  putting  it  in  writing 
and  the  obligation  of  secrecy  in  regard  to  it. 
Neither  of  them  tells  the  reader  so  in  terms, 
but  this  only  serves  to  hide  more   effectually 
the  words  and  structure  of  their  Symbol.     On 
any  other  hypothesis,  the  reticence  of  those 
writers  and  the  studied  care  with  which  they 
vary  the  unvarying  Rule  of  the  Faith  is  an 

283 


J! 


THE  SYMBOL 


1 


P 


insoluble  conundrum  to  be  everlastingly  given 
up. 


VIII. 


Corrobora- 
tive Proof 


But  if  ^'Kerygma,"  "Rule  of 
Faith,"  and  "  Rule  of  Truth  "  are 
but  different  names  for  the  same  formulary, 
and  if  that  formulary  is  the  Creed  or  Symbol  of 
the  Apostles,  the  following  passage,  in  which 
the  learned  English  Benedictine  sums  up  the 
observations  of  Probst  upon  the  Apostolic 
Kerygma,  furnishes  strong  corroborative  evi- 
dence of  the  truth  of  the  ancient  Catholic 
tradition  : 

"We  find  in  the  Acts  several  expositions  of 
Christian  doctrine,  in  the  sermons  of  St.  Peter 
and  St.  Paul  (Acts  ii,  iii,  iv,  x,  xvii),  all  re- 
markably alike,  and  covering  the  same  ground 
as  the  Creed.  This  similarity  arose,  no  doubt, 
from  the  requirements  the  Apostles  had  to 
meet.  They  had  to  testify  to  the  Jews  the 
Godhead,  public  life,  death,  and  resurrection 
of  our  Lord,  with  their  consequences — the  res- 
urrection and  judgment  of  all  mankind  ;  and 
to  these  doctrines  when  preaching  to  the 
heathen,  St.  Paul  had  to  prefix  that  God  was 

284 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


the  creator  of  heaven  and  earth.     The  simi- 
larity between  these  discourses  extends,  how- 
ever, to  the  language  and  turn  of  the  sentences, 
as  will  to  some  extent  appear  when  I  presently 
compare  the  Creed  with  the  New  Testament, 
and  as  can  be  more  completely  seen  by  reading 
them   together;  and   this   fact   suggests  that 
there  must  have  been  an  agreement  among  the 
Apostles  as  to  the  form  as  well  as  the  matter 
of  their  teaching — an  agreement   reached,  of 
course,   before   their   dispersion.      The    same 
conclusion  follows  from  a  study  of  the  several 
descriptions   of   the   public   teaching    of   the 
Church  in  the  New  lestament  and  Apostolic 
Fathers.     Perhaps  the  most  interesting  is  con- 
nected with  the  word  xr^pu^  and  its  derivatives. 
It  was  evidently  adopted  from  the  Septuagint 
in  order  to  claim  for  Christian  teachers  the  in- 
fallibility belonging  to  the  inspired  prophets 
of  the  Old  Law.     St.  Paul   significantly   con- 
nects the  act  of  preaching  with  being  sent, 
and  in  his  OAvn  case  laid  the  Gospel  which  he 
preached   privately   before  the  heads  of  the 
Church  in  Jerusalem  (Rom.  x.  II,  15 ;  Gal.  ii. 
2).     xripo^y  again,  is  twice  used  by  him  in  a 
manner  which  implies  that  it  had  acquired  a 
definitft  connotation  at  the  time  the  Pastoral 
Epistles  were  written  (1  Tim.  i.  7 ;  2  Tim.  i. 
11).     There  is  still  more  evidence  that  the 


S8ff 


THE  SYMBOL 

word  xiooriia  gradually  obtained  a  technical 
sense,  in  St  Paul  and  the  early  Christian 
writers,  for  the  defined  and  official  teaching  of 
the  Church.  This  is  inevitably  obscured  in 
the  Latin  and  other  versions,  where  "prae- 
dicatio,"  "  preaching  "  has  to  do  duty  for  the 
act  of  preaching  as  well  as  for  the  things 
preached,  the  matter  of  the  doctrines  taught 
by  the  Apostles.  Probst  avoids  this  ambiguity 
by  using  the  word  "  Kerygma  "  wherever  it  is 
possible  to  do  so.  When  this  is  done,  the 
significance  of  the  word  comes  out  in  such 
passages  as — "the  foolishness  of  the  Kerygma" 
(1  Cor.  i.  21) ;  "  that  through  me  the  Keryg- 
ma" might  be  fully  proclaimed  (2  Tim.  iv. 
17) ;  "  the  Kerygma  wherewith  I  was  in- 
trusted" (Tit.  i.  3)." 


IX. 


A  little  further  on  Dom  Gas-  !  ^  Spurious 
quet  points  out  that,  in  frag-  \.^^^:.. 
ments  from  the  early  Christian  writers  pre- 
served by  Eusebius,  the  word  is  constantly 
used  in  the  same  sense,  the  most  remarkable 
ins*^ance  being  a  passage  in  Irenaeus  where  the 
*' tradition  of  the  Apostles"  is  sharply  distin- 
guished from  the  "Kerygma  of  the   truth," 

286 


li 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

the  distinction  being  that  which  obtains  be- 
tween the  whole  and  its  part.  He  also  cites 
Origen,  De  Princip.,  sect.  2,  where  we  find 
the  words  :  "  Let  the  Kerygnia  of  the  Church, 
dehvered  by  the  order  of  succession  from  the 
Apostles,  be  observed."  In  this  same  place 
Origen  gives  a  summary  of  the  contents  of 
this  "Kerygma,"  reproduced  in  an  earlier 
chapter  of  the  present  work,'^  which,  as  far  as 
it  goes,  corresponds  exactly  to  the  Symbol  of 
the  Apostles.  Thus  Probst  and  Dom  Gasquet  '^ 
trace  the  "  Kerygma  "  from  the  Apostles,  its 
authors,  down  to  Origen  ;  so  far  as  its  con- 
tents are  made  known  to  us,  it  tallies  with  the 
Creed ;  according  to  the  ancient  tradition  of 
the  Church,  the  Creed  was  composed  by  the 

"  Chap,  v.,  Sect.  IX. 

"  Original  research  in  historical  fields  nearer  home  has 
won  for  Dom  Gasquet,  now  the  Abbot  Gasquet,  merited 
distinction.  To  such  research  the  two  articles  on  the 
Creed,  referred  to  above,  while  they  bear  the  imprint  of 
his  scholarship,  do  not  pretend.  He  trusted  too  implicitly 
his  blind  leaders,  Probst  and  Swainson,  and,  of  course,  fell 
with  them  into  the  same  pit.  There  has  been  altogether 
too  much  trusting  to  blind  leaders  by  Catholic  writers  on 
this  subject.  Probst,  in  his  turn,  followed  some  "  higher  " 
critic  than  himself.  "They  are  lifted  up  on  high  that 
they  may  be  broken  by  a  heavier  fall." 

OQrV 


THE  SYMBOL 


Apostles;  yet  these  two  Catholic  writers  set 
CLside  that  venerable  tradition,  admit  and  up- 
hold the  Apo  :*olic  authorship  of  a  "  Kerygma," 
shrink  from  affirming  the  Apostolic  authorship 
of  the  Creed.  This  is  one  of  the  absurd  re- 
finements of  a  spurious  criticism  which  arro- 
gates to  itself  the  name,  now  of  "  higher,"  now 
of  "  historical,"  without  any  valid  claim  to 
either  title. 


388 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

MEETING  OBJECTIONS. 

L 


Dr.  Schaff 

Holds  a 

Brief. 


At  page  23  of  the  firs*  volume 
of  his  Creeds  of  Christendom^^ 
Dr.  SchafiE  sums  up  the  case 
against  the  Apostolic  authorship  of  the  Creed. 
"  After  having  first  been  called  in  question  by 
Laurentius  Valla,  Erasmus,  Calvin,  the  apos- 
tolic origin,"  he  tells  us,  "  has  been  so  clearly 
disproved  long  since  by  Vossius,  Rivetus,  Voe- 
tius,  Usher,  Bingham,  Pearson,  King,  Walch, 
and  other  scholars,  that  it  ought  never  to  be 
seriously  asserted  again."  The  arguments 
which  those  critics  have  brought  forward  he 
finds  "  quite  conclusive."  Let  us  review  them 
one  by  one : 

1  Fourth  Edition   Revised  and   Enlarged    (Harper  & 
Brothers,  Publishers,  1899). 

19  289 


l4 


i 


THE  SYMBOL 

1.  The  intrinsic  improbability  of  such  a 
mechanical  composition.  It  has  no  analogy 
in  the  history  of  symbols;  even  when  com- 
posed by  committees  or  synods,  they  are  mainly 
the  production  of  one  mind.  The  Apostles' 
Creed  is  no  piece  of  mosaic,  but  an  organic 
unit,  an  instinctive  work  of  art  in  the  same 
sense  as  the  Gloria  hi  Excelsis,  the  Te  Deum, 
and  the  classical  prayers  and  hymns  of  the 
Church. 

This  objection  strikes  at  the  legend  which 
assigi:s  to  each  of  the  Apostles  a  distinct 
article  as  his  contribution  to  the  common 
Creed.  As  against  the  legend  it  has  much 
weight,  though  it  is  not  altogether  conclusive ; 
for,  after  all,  highly  unlikely  and  out  of  keep- 
ing with  analogy  as  the  thing  appears,  no  one 
can  say  that  the  S-mbol  could  not  in  fart 
have  been  composed  in  that  way.  But  the 
legend,  as  has  been  pointed  out  elsewhere,  is 
one  thing;  the  tradition  is  quite  another. 
And  it  is  not  to  the  credit  of  historical  critic- 
ism that  it  should  have  bundled  the  two  to- 
gether. The  legend  dates  from  the  seventh  or 
eighth  century,  and  finds  its  fitting  source  in  a 
sermon   falsely  attributed  to   St.  Augustine; 

390 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

the  tradition,  as  has  been  shown  in  the  course 
of  this  work,  mounts  up  to  the  apostolic  age. 
It  is  quite  true,  as  Schaff  says,  or  rather  rea- 
sons out  from  analogy,  that  the  Creed  is 
"  mainly  the  production  of  one  mind,"  for  the 
Apostles  had  but  one  mind  in  the  Holy 
Spirit,  the  Paraclete,  who  is  the  real  Author 
of  the  Symbol. 


H 


r. 


2.  The    silence   of   the    Scrip-  •  The  Fallacy 
tures.     Some    advocates    indeed   i    ^'^^Su.ence 

pretend  to  find  allusions  to  the  • "• 

Creed  in  Paul's  "  analogy  "  or  "  proportion  of 
faith,"  Rom.  xii.  7 ;  "  the  first  principles  of 
the  oracles  of  God,"  Heb.  v.  12;  "the  faith 
once  delivered  to  the  saints,"  Jude,  ver.  3; 
and  "  the  doctrine,"  2  John,  ver.  lO  ;  but  these 
passages  can  easily  be  explained  without  such 
assumption. 

3.  The  silence  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers  and 
all  the  ante-Nicene  and  Nicene  Fathers  and 
synods.  Even  the  (Ecumenical  Council  of 
Nicaea  knows  nothing  of  a  symbol  of  strictly 
apostolic  composition,  and  would  not  have 
dared  to  supersede  it  by  another. 

291 


.J 


THE  SYMBOL 


'li: 


These  two  objections  grow  out  of  the  same 
root.      They   rest   on   the   common   basis   of 
silence.     Here,  too,  are  lumped   together,  in 
most   uncritical   fashion,   things   that   should 
have  been  kept  carefully  separate.     We  must 
distinguish  the  Creed  and  the  tradition  of  its 
origin  ;  agai^,  in  the  Creed  itself,  the  doctrine 
and  the  form  of  words  in  which  it  is  embodied. 
The  ante-Nicene  Fathers  are  not  si'ent  about 
the  tradition.     On  the  contrary,  they  affirm  it, 
Irenrjus  and  Tertullian   explicitly  and  repeat- 
edly, others,  such  as  Clemen    of  Alexandria, 
equivalently  and  by  implication.     As  for  the 
Creed  itself,  it  is  true  that  no  writer  of  the 
second  or  third  century  sets  it  before  us  in  the 
very  phrase.     But  Irenaeus  and  Tertullian  give 
us  the  contents  of  it,  article  by  article,  in  their 
own  words,  the  one  supplying  what  the  other 
omits.     Other  writers,  Hke  the  same  Clement, 
allude  to  it  and  "  attempt,  while  concealing  yet 
to  declare,  and  though  hiding  to  manifest,  and 
though  silent  to  point  out."     Such  silence  as 
this  is  an  eloquent  silence,  eloquent  of  affirma- 
tion, not  of  denial.     It  is  a  silence  that  says 
Yes,  while  seeming  to  say  No.     Such,  too,  is 

JJ92 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


ilil! 


the  silence  of  Scripture,  so  far  forth  as  Scrip- 
ture  IS  silent.     It  is  a  silence  that  is  sugo-estive 
suggestive  of  a  settled  policy  followed  from  the 
hrst,  a  pohcy  that  was  carried  out  by  a  rio-orous 
enforcement  of  the  Discipline  of  the  Secret. 
But  Scripture  is  not  silent  as  to  the  existence 
of  the  Creed.     The  point,  however,  has  been 
tully  dealt  with  elsewhere.     Finally,  nothing 
could  be  truer  than  that  the  Nicene  Fathers 
would  not  have  dared  to  supersede  the  A  -.ostoHc 
Symbol  by  another.     But  what  of  that  ?     The 
Nicene  Symbol  is  not  "  another  "  Symbol.     It 
is  still  the  same  ancient  formulary,  with  such 
added  words  as  bring  out  more  clearly  and  fully 
the  true  meaning  of  it.     See  Chap.  V. 


Two  More 
Worthless 
Pleas. 


in. 


4.  The  variety  in  form  of  the 
various  rules  of  faith  in  the  ante- 

Nicene  churches,  and  of  the  Apos 

tohc  Symbol  itself  down  to  the  eighth    cen- 
tury.    This  fact  is  attested  even  by  Rufinus 
who  mentions  the  points  in  which  the  Creed 
of   Aquileia   differed    from    that   of    Rome, 
buch   variations  in   the  form   of  the   Creed 


293 


¥ 


THE  SYMBOL 

forbid  the  supposition  of  any  fixed  system 
of  words,  recognized  and  received  as  the  com- 
position of  the  Apostles  ;  for  no  one,  surely, 
would  have  felt  at  liberty  to  alter  any  such 
normal  scheme  of  faith  (Dr.  Nevin). 

This  objection,  too,  has  been  anticipated. 
As  for  the  sage  observation  of  Dr.  Nevin,  the 
value  of  it  may  be  gav  ged  by  the  fact  that  at 
the  very  time  the  whole  Christian  world  recog- 
nized and  received  the  Creed  as  the  composition 
of  the  Apostles,  not  one  only  but  many,  whole 
Churches,  indeed,  felt  at  liberty  to  alter  the 
form  of  it,  and  did  alter  it.  They  knew  full 
well  it  was  not  the  words  that  mattered  but  the 
meaning.  To  alter  the  wording  or  add  to  it 
was  not  to  add  to  "  the  normal  scheme  of  faith." 

5.  The  fact  that  the  Apostles'  Creed  never 
had  any  general  currency  in  the  East,  where 
the  Nicene  Creed  occupies  its  place,  with  an 
almost  equal  claim  to  apostolicity  as  far  as  the 
substance  is  concerned. 

The  alleged  "  fact "  has  been  shown  to  be 
a  fiction.  It  is  of  the  Nicene  Creed  Epiphanius 
says,  "This  Formula  of  Faith  was  handed 
down  to  us  by  the   holy   Apostles,  and  pre- 

294 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

scribed  in  the  holy  city  by  all  th    Bishops,  in 
number  three  hundred  and  eighteen."  ^ 

It  would  seem,  after  all,  that  it  is  to  the 
arguments  for  the  Apostolic  origin  of  the 
Symbol  the  quality  of  conclusiveness  belongs. 

*Ancor.,  118.    See  Chap.  V.,  Sect.  XIIL 


295 


THE  SYMBOL 


CHAPTER  Xn. 


THE  ARTICLES  OF  THE  CREED. 


The  OBJEcr 

OF  OUR 

Faith. 


"  Without  faith,"  says  St.  Paul, 
"  it  is  impossible  to  please  God. 
For  he  that  cometh  to  God  must 
believe  that  He  is,  and  that  He  is  a  rewarder 
of  them  that  seek  after  Him." — Heb.  11 :  6. 
Now  the  Creed  is  a  "  br  viarium  fidei,"  a  sum- 
mary of  the  Frith.  It  must  contain,  there- 
fore, and  set  before  us  in  a  compendious  form, 
the  teachiajr  of  the  Faith  ibout  God  as  He  is 
in  Himself,  and  about  God  as  He  is  the  re- 
warder  of  those  who  seek  after  Him,  that  is, 
about  God  in  relation  to  us.  God  in  Himself, 
as  the  object  of  our  Faith,  is  One  in  Three, 
one  God  in  three  Persons,  the  Father,  ihe  Son, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost.  On  tl  is  mystery  of  the 
Holy  Trinity  our  Creed  rests  as  on  its  foun 

296 


:i!Ji 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


dation.     All  that  it  contains  beside,  all  that  is 
built  on  this  foundation,  serves  to  define  God 
as  He  is  Jn  relation  to  us,  or,  more  properly 
speaking,  to  define  the  relation  in   which  we 
stand  to  Him,  for  in  Him  is  no  real  relation  to 
aught  that  is  outside  of  Himself.     We,  on  the 
other  hand,  enter  into  relations  with  the  three 
Persons  of  the  Blessed  Trinity ;  with  the  First 
Person  as  our  Creator,  with  the  Second  Person 
as  our  Redeemer,  with  the  Third  Person  as  our 
Paraclete,  as  the  Spirit  who  guides  us  into  the 
truth,  frees  us  from  our  sins,  and  comforts  us 
in  this  mortal  life  Avith  the  blessed  hope  of  a 
glorious  resurrection.     All  this  is  set  forth  in 
the  twelve  articles  of  the  Creed. 


n. 


The  Object 

OF  OUR 

Faith. 


We  understand  by  an  "  article  of 
faith  "  a  distinct  point  of  revealed 
doctrine,  an  item  of  religious  be- 
lief complete  in  itself,  that  is,  not  logically 
included  in  any  other,  at  least  so  far  as  the 
reason  of  man  can  discern  such  inclusion. 
Thus  "crucified  under  Pontius  Pilate  and 
buried  "  of  the  Old  Roman  Creed  logically  im- 

297 


r  - 

'III 


1.1 

3     « 


ii 


THE  SYMBOL 

plied  "  suffered,"  and  "  died,"  neither  of  which 
additions,  therefore,  constitutes  a  new  article 
of  faith.  Of  such  points  of  revealed  doctrine 
there  are  twelve  in  the  Apostles'  Creed.  Now 
as  in  Leo  the  Great's  day  it  is  duodecim  apos- 
tolorum  totidem  signata  sententiis.  And 
each  of  ihe  twelve  embodies  a  revealed  truth, 
a  truth  such  as  the  reason  of  man  could  never 
have  learned  by  its  own  unaided  light.  For 
faith,  as  St.  Paul  defines  it,  is  "  the  foundation 
QjnoffTaffti'j  of  things  hoped  for,  the  assurance 
(ehyxoi)  '  of  things  not  seen. — Heb.  11 : 1.  The 
formal  object  of  Faith  as  of  Hope  is  the  un- 
seen, "  for  who  hopeth,"  says  the  same  Apostle, 
"for  that  which  he  seeth?"  Rom.  8  :  24. 
"  The  unseen  in  the  things  of  God  "  says  St. 
Thomas,'  "is  the  object  of  Faith.  Hence 
wherever  we  find  a  thing  that  is  in  a  special 
sense  unseen  there  we  distinguish  a  special 
article." 


1  i^yxoi  signifies  that  which  gives  assurance  or  produces 
conviction.  The  function  of  Faith  is  to  produce  convic- 
tion of  the  trutli  of  things  tliat  lie  beyond  the  utmost 
reach  of  reason  left  to  itself,  i.  e.  acting  in  the  order  of 
nature. 

s  2a  2m  q.  1  ;  art.  6. 

298 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


III. 


ii : 

m 


The  Unseen 
Element. 


The  mystery  of  the  Trinity, 
embodied  in  the  first,  second,  and 
ninth  articles  of  the  Creed,  is  unseen  in 
the  most  absolute  sense.  Not  only  is  it  be- 
yond the  power  of  unaided  reason  to  know 
that  God  is  One  in  Three,  but  it  is  be- 
yond its  power  to  understand  this  truth  even 
after  it  has  been  made  known  by  revelation. 
The  same  is  to  be  jaid  of  the  mystery  of  the 
Incarnation,  set  forth  in  the  third  article.  But 
what  of  the  fourth?  Was  the  crucifixion, 
was  the  burial,  of  Christ  unseen  ?  It  would 
appear  not.  The  whole  tragic  scene  on  Cal- 
vary had  many  witnesses.  It  is  a  fact  of  his- 
tory that  Christ  was  crucified,  and  that  his 
body  was  laid  in  the  sepulchre.  It  is  proved 
by  documentary  evidence  like  any  other  histo- 
rical fact.  How,  then,  can  it  be  of  divine 
faith  ?  how  can  it  be  an  article  of  the  Creed  ? 
It  might  be  said  that,  while  the  crucifixion  and 
burial  were  in  themselves  visible  facts,  the  fact 
of  the  One  crucified  and  buried  being  the  Son 
of  God  was  invisible.     But  this  would  be  no 

299 


THE  SYMBOL 

adequate  solution  of  the  difficulty,  for  our  faith 
in  the  invisible  fact  in  question  is  already  im- 
pUed  in  our  faith  in  the  mystery  of  the  Incar- 
nation. If  the  Son  of  God  can  be  born  of 
woman,  He  can  die  on  a  cross  j»nd  be  buried, 
just  as  any  mere  man  that  is  born  of  woman 
can.  The  unseen  element  of  this  article  of  the 
Cro'd  is  to  be  sought  in  the  idea  expressed  by 
the  word  "  buried."  For  "  buried,"  as  Rufinus 
pointed  out  so  long  ago,  in  his  Commentary 
on  the  Symbol f  logically,  or,  at  any  rate,  theo- 
logically includes  the  "  descent  into  hell," 
which  found  a  place,  even  at  that  early  day,  in 
the  Creed  of  the  Church  of  Aquileia.^  Now, 
the  fact  of  the  existence  of  the  disembodied 
spirits  in  Limbo,  and  the  fact  that  the  Soul  of 
Christ  went  thither  after  its  separation  from 
the  Body  are  in  the  strictest  sense,  unseen 
facts,  which  we  know  not  by  reason,  nor  on 
the  testimony  of  men,  but  by  revelation  from 
God.  The  subject  of  the  complex  predicate 
"was  crucified  and  buried  "  is  "Jesus  Christ," 
and  Jesus  Christ,  as   we   are   taught   in  the 

•  "  Vis  tamea  verbi  eadem  videtur  in  eo  quod  sepultus 
dicitur."    lb.  n.  18  (Migne,  P.  L.  torn.  21). 

300 


.i-,      Mr        I    TT 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

^techism,  had   a   body  and  soul  like  ours. 
We  are,   therefore,   bound  to  believe  that  the 
entire  Christ  was  "  buried,"  His  Body  in  the 
sepulchre,    His   Soul   in   the    Limbo    of   the 
Fathers.     Our  Lord  Himself,  in  the  parable  of 
Lazarus    id  the  rich  glutton,  after  saying  of 
the  latter   that   he  "  died   and   was  buried," 
oasses  right  on   to  say  in  the  next  sentence, 
"and  in  hell  he  lifted  up   his  eyes,"^  ,vhich 
can  be  understood  only   of   the   disembodied 
spirit.     It  IS  instructive  to  note  that  the  same 
word   IS  used   in   this   passage  of  Luke  and 
m    the    Creed    to   signify   what   we   express 
111  English   by  "buried."     Li  Luke  it  is  -'^r- 
the  Creed  has  -,^/.ra.     it  i,  ^Iso  instructive  to 
note  that,  m  the  Canon  of  the  Mas     which  is 
perhaps  as  old  as  the   Creed  itself,  the  resur- 
rection is   spoken  of  as   being   « ab  inferis  " 
that  is,  from  «  hell "  or  the  lower  world,  rather 
^han    from   the  sepulchre.     The  words   run  • 
"Ejusdem    Christi    Filii   tui,  Domini  Nostri, 
tam  beatae  passionis,  nee  iion  et  ab  inferis  re- 

'  So  the  passage  runs  in  the  original  Greek.    The  Donay 

301 


THE  SYMBOL 

surrectionis,  sed  et  in  caelos  gloriosae  ascen- 
sionis — Of  the  so  sacred  passion  of  the  same 
Christ  Thy  Son,  our  Lord,  as  well  as  of  His 
resurrection  from  the  lower  world,  and  also  of 
his  glorious  ascension  into  Heaven." 


IV. 


■  I 


Four  Other  j         A.nd  now  for  the  other  articles. 

'...;    The   Resurrection  was  not  only 

unseen  of  men  but  is  a  something  that 
passes  comprehension.  The  Ascension  was 
visible  in  its  first  stage,  on  the  Mount  of 
Olives,  but  unseen  even  of  those  who  stood 
there  gazing  upward,  from  the  time  that  "  the 
cloud  received "  Our  Lord  "  out  of  their 
sight." — Acts.  1:9.  It  was  "  the  two  men  " 
who  "stood  by  them  in  white  apparel,"  the 
Angels  of  God,  to  wit,  who  revealed  to  the 
men  of  Galilee  that,  "  this  Jesus  was  received 
up  from  "  them  "  into  heaven "  and  should 
"  so  come  in  like  manner  as  "  they  had  beheld 
"  him  going  into  heaven."  The  session  "  on 
the  right  hand  of  the  Father  "  is  veiled  from 
mortal  vision,  as  is  the  coming  again  *'  to  judge 

302 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


the  Kving  and  the  dead,"  which  is  foretold  in 
the  eighth  article.  The  ninth  article  completes 
the  statement  of  our  faith  in  the  mystery  of 
the  Holy  Trinity. 


V. 


;h    H 


h 


Holy 
Church. 


Of  the  three  remaining  articles 
only  one  offers  any  difficulty  on 
this  score.  The  remission  of  sins  and  the 
resurrection  of  the  body  belong  to  an  order 
of  truths  that  are  far  beyond  the  ken  of  un- 
aided reason.  But  (and  here  is  where  the 
difficulty  lies)  the  Church  is  visible,  "  a  city 
set  upon  a  hill."  So  it  is.  But  so  was  the 
"  Man  Christ  Jesus  "  visible,  and  yet  He  it 
is  with  whom  the  third  article  of  the  Creed 
is  concerned.  When  Ptter  said  to  the  Mau 
who  stood  before  him,  "Thou  art  Clirist, 
the  Son  of  the  living  God,"  he  saw  one 
thing,  as  St.  Gregory  puts  it,  and  believed  an- 
other. He  saw  One  who  "  was  found  in  fashion 
as  a  man,"  and  believed  Him  to  be  God.  And 
80  it  is  with  us  in  the  case  of  the  Church. 
We  see  one  t^'*»g,  we  beli^  v*^  another.     Indeed 

d03 


i«^N 


THE  SYMBOL 

"  the  holy  Church  "  is,  in  the  logical  order,  the 
first  article  of  the  Creed.  We  see  the  visible 
society  which,  from  its  centre  in  Rome,  branches 
out  into  all  the  world,— "this  broad  fact  of 
Catholicism,  as  real,"  aye,  and  as  visible,  "  as 
the  continent  of  America  or  the  Milky  Way ;  " 
we  believe  it  to  be  "  the  Church  of  the  living 
God,  which  is  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the 
truth.'*  In  the  Church,  even  as  in  her  Founder, 
we  distinguish  the  human  element  and  the 
divine,  the  visible  element  and  the  invisible. 
It  is  the  former  that  is  prominently  before  our 
minds  when  we  say  "the  holy  Catholic 
Church ;  "  the  latter  when  we  add,  "  the  com- 
munion of  saints." 


11 ;  1^ 


1 

V: 


VI. 


Two  Cita- 
tions IN 
Point. 


This  is  what  was  in  St.  Augus- 
tine's mind  when  he  prayed  that 
exquisitely  touching  prayer,  on  the 
death  of  his  mother:  "And  inspire,  0  Lord 
my  God,  inspire  Thy  servants  my  brethren. 
Thy  sons  my  masters,  whom  with  voice,  and 
heart,  and  pen  I  serve,  that  as  many  as   shall 

304 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

read  these  Confessions  may  at  Thy  Altar  re- 
member Monica,  Thy  handmaid,  with  Patri- 
cms,  her  sometime  husband,  by  whose  bodies 
Thou  hast  brought  me  into  this  life,  how  I 
know  not.  May  they  devoutly  remember  my 
parents  in  this  transitory  life,  my  brethren 
under  Thee  our  Father  in  our  Catholic  Mother, 
my  fellow-citizens  in  the  eternal  Jerusalem, 
which  Thy  pilgrim  people  sigh  after  from  their 
going  forth  even  unto  their  return  thither."  s 

But  you  are  come  to  Mount  Sion,  and  to  the 
city  of  the  living  God,  the  heavenly  Jerusa- 
lem, and  to  the  company  of  many  thousands 
of  Angels,  and  to  the  Church  of  the  first- 
born who  are  written  in  the  heavens,  and  to 
God  the  judge  of  all,  and  to  the  spirits  of  the 
just  made  perfect,  and  to  Jesus  the  Mediator 
of  the  New  Testament,  and  to  the  sjjrinkling 
of  blood  which  speaketh  better  than  that  of 
ofAbeL—IL^h.  12. 

6  Conf.  Bk.  9. 


20 


305 


t 

a 

•I     i 


THE  SYMBOL 


VII. 


The  Drama 
OF  Redemp- 
tion. 


What  has  been  not  inappropri- 
ately called  the  "  Christological  sec- 
tion "  of  the  Creed,' from  the  second 
to  the  eighth  article  inclusive,  embodies  the  great 
drama  of  the  Redemption.  The  second  article 
is  in  the  nature  of  a  prologue,  the  eighth  an 
epilogue,  while  the  intervening  ones  constitute 
the  drama  proper.  It  has  five  acts,  the  In- 
carnation, the  Death  and  Burial,  the  Resurrec- 
tion, the  Ascension,  and  the  Session  on  the 
right  hand  of  the  Father.  Most  of  its  scenes  are 
familiar  to  us  in  the  mysteries  of  the  Rosary.  It 
was  presented  once  for  all  on  the  world's  stage, 
at  Nazareth  and  Bethlehem,  on  Calvary,  on 
the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  is  ever  since  re- 
hearsed on  the  altars  of  our  churches  in  the 
Holy  Mass.  The  Word,  \^ho  was  "  with  God 
in  the  beginning,"  leaves  His  home  in  heaven, 
and  presently  on  earth  "  is  found  in  fashion 
as  a  man " ;  goes  down  into  the  grave  and 
even  into  hell ;  rises  from  thence  again ;  goes 
up  into  heaven  ;  and  once  more  is  with  God, 
" sitting  on  the   right  hand  of  the  Father"; 

306 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

for  He  who  was  "  born  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and 
the  Virgin  Maiy "  has  won  for  Himself  this 
place  of  pre-eminence.  The  stupendous  drama 
has  its  catabasis  and  its  anabasis,  its  coming 
down  and  its  going  up  again.  And  the  "  de- 
scent into  hell "  is  part  of  the  catabasis.-*  The 
anabasis  begins  to  unfold  itself  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  resurrection. 

vm. 


Here,  then,  is  another  reason  j  "^he  Fourth 
why  the  '<  descent  into  hell "  must  •....^!!"':''.^:.. 
be  deemed  part  of  the  fourth  article.  The 
putting  it  in  with  the  fifth  is  clean  against  the 
canons  of  dramatic  art.  This  might  not  be  a 
very  serious  m'atter  by  itself.  B ut  it  gives  added 
weight  to  theological  and  historical  considera- 
tions. Theologically,  as  has  been  pointed  out 
above,  the  addition  is  needed  to  bring  out  the 
full  meaning  of  the  fourth  article.  And  to  the 
fourth  it  belongs  also  on  critical  and  historical 
grounds.  "The  oldest  interpreters,"  says 
Harnack,  "  make  descendit  equivalent  to  sepul- 

307 


i 


CONTENTS. 

tus."^  The  fourth  article,  therefore,  is  :  "  Suf- 
fered under  Pontius  Pilate,  was  crucified,  died, 
and  v/as  buried.  He  descended  into  hell." 
The  Soul  of  Christ  was  in  hell  before  His 
Body  was  in  the  sepulchre. 


IX. 


Creator, 
Redeemer, 
Sanctifier 


It  is  one  of  the  commonplaces 
of  Catholic  theology  that  a  spe- 

cial  work  is  appropriated  to  each 

of  the  three  Persons  of  the  Blessed  Trinity. 
To  the  Father  is  appropriated  the  work  of 
creation,  to  the  Son  the  work  of  redemption, 
to  the  Holy  Ghost  the  work  of  sanctification. 
Now,  the  Symbol  expresses  our  faith  in  each 
of  the  three  Divine  Persons,  and  in  the  work 
appropriated  to  each.  Our  faith  in  the  Third 
Person  is  expressed  in  the  ninth  article,  and 
our  faith  in  the  work  that  He  has  done,  is 

«  The  Apostles'  Creed,  p.  88.  The  point  was  a  moot 
one  in  the  Middle  Age,  as  appears  from  a  passage  in  The 
Forvmla  of  Concord,  Art.  IX.  *'  It  hath  also  been  dis- 
puted," say  the  authors,  "  whether  this  article  [the  de- 
scent into  hell]  is  to  be  referred  to  the  passion,  or  to  the 
glorious  victory  and  triumpli  of  Christ."  Cf.  Schaff's 
Creeds  of  Christendom,  Vol.  III.  p.  159. 

308 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

doing,  and  is  to  do  on  the  last  day  finds  ex- 
pression  in  the  three  articles  that  follow.  Our 
faith  in  the  Second  Person  is  embodied  in  the 
second  and  third  articles,  while  the  fourth, 
fifth,  sixth,  and  seventh  tell  us  what  He  has 
done  or  is  doing,  and  the  eighth  foretells  what 
He  IS  yet  to  do.  Our  faith  in  the  First  Feison 
ve  profess  in  the  opening  article. 

it  seems  strange  at  first  sight  that  a  separate 
article  is  not  given  to  the  work  appropriated 
to  the  Father.     But  when  we  look  into  the 
mjitter  a  little  more  closely,  we  see  the  reason 
for  this.     The  work  of  creation,  though  it  does 
involve  the  exercise  of  omnipotent  power,  lies, 
after  all,  in  the  order  of  nature,  as  it  is  by  it 
that  nature  and  nature's  laws  came  into  being. 
It  is  only  facts  of  the  supernatural  order  that 
can  find  a  special  place  in  the  Creed.     Again, 
Faith  has  for  its   formal  object  the    unseen! 
But  God  the  Creator  is  not  unseen,  "For  the 
invisible  things  of  Him  since  the  creation  of 
the  world  are  clearly   seen,   being   perceived 
through  the  things  that  are  made,  even  his 
everlasting  power  and  divinity ;  so  that  they 
are  without   excuse,   because,   knowing  God, 

309 


THE  SYMBOL 

they  glorified  Him  not  as  God,  nor  gave 
thanks."— Heb.  1  :  20-21.  The  word  "  al- 
mighty," therefore,  which  stood  in  the  Creed 
from  the  first,  and  the  addition  "  Creator  of 
heaven  and  earth,"  serve  but  to  mark  off  the 
First  Person  from  the  other  two.  They  em- 
body no  new  revealed  truth,  no  truth  of  revela- 
tion at  all,  in  fact,  save  by  way  of  preamble, 
and  so  do  not  constitute  a  separate  article. 


X. 


The 
Seventh 
Article. 


One  more  point,  touching  tt  ^ 
division  of  the  Creed  into  articles? 
remains  to  be  dealt  with.  The 
session  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Father  is  to- 
day coupled  with  the  ascension  in  the  sixth 
article.  All  the  ancient  commentators  on  the 
Symbol,  Cyril,  Rufinus,  Augustine,  Peter 
Chrysologus,  Maximus  of  Turin,  make  the 
Session  a  separate  article,  putting  it  in  the 
seventh  place.  And  surely  this  is  a  distinct 
point  of  revealed  doctrine,  a  separate  item  of 
our  belief,  which  should  therefore  form  a  dis- 
tinct article.     It  corresponds   to   the   second 

310 


-»  ••■■^ ' 


'  i 


!ii 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

article,  in  which  the  Word -is  revealed  ag  rest- 
ing from  eternity  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father  • 
for  here  the  Word-made-flesh  rests  on  the 
right  hand  of  the  Father,  after  the  battle  with 
sm  and  death  has  been  fought  and  won.  The 
two  articles  which  relate  the  story  of  the  cata- 
basis,  or  exinanition,  and  the  corresponding 
two  that  tell  of  the  anabasis,  or  exaltation, 
come  m  between. 


I! 


I  The  Twelfth 
:   Aio  Last. 


XI. 

It.  would  seem  that  the  s^'xth 
and  seventh  articles  of  the  Old 
Roman  Creed  were  fused  into  one  in  the  Apos- 
tles' Creed  as  it  stands  to-day,  in  order  to  get 
"  the  life  everlasting  "  by  itself  into  the  twelfth 
and  last  place.     But  « the  life  everlasting,"  is 
not  m  any  of  the  creed-forms  that  are  to  be 
found  in  TertulKan  or  Irenseus,  nor  was  it  in 
the  Old  Roman  Creed  even  in  the  time  of  St 
Leo  the  Great.     Yet  Leo's  Creed   comprises 
twelve  articles ;  it  is    duoclecim  apostolorum 
totidem    signata    sententlis.     One     of     two 
things,  then :  either  a   new  article  has  been 

311 


ij  ''' 


ii, 


THE  SYMBOL 

added  to  the  Creed,  or  the  present  division  of 
it  into  articles  is  faulty.  Will  any  one  main- 
tain that  the  Apostles'  Creed  contains  more 
than  twelve  articles  ?  If  not,  plain  it  is  that 
"  the  life  everlasting  "  is  not  at  all  the  twelfth 
article,  but  only  a  gloss  on  "  the  resurrection 
of  the  flesh,"  which  is  the  real  twelfth  article. 


XII. 


A  Legend 

AND  ITS 
SOITRCE. 


But  how  account  for  the  pres- 
ent division,  which  has  behind  it 
quite  a  hoary  past,  and  would  be 
venerable  were  it  possible  for  error  ever  to  be- 
come venerable  ?  It  would  seem  to  have  had 
its  origin  in  a  sermon  on  the  Symbol  falsely 
attributed  to  St.  Augustine.  St.  Augustine's 
word  has  ever  carried  great  weight,  and  down 
to  a  comparatively  recent  date,  his  word  was 
understood  to  be  pledged  for  the  truth  of  what 
is  now  known  to  be  a  purely  legendary  account 
of  how  the  Twelve  Apostles  composed  the 
Creed.  I  transcribe  the  legend  from  the  text 
hi  Migne,  omitting  the  comment  interspersed 
with  the  words  supposed  to  have  been  contrib- 
uted by  each  Apostle.     The  reader  will   see 

31 5J 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

that  the  divisions  of  li.e  Cr  -d  correspond  ex- 
aetly  to  those  that  we  have  to-day  ; 

On  the  tenth  day  after  the  ascension  .  .  . 
the   disciples    composed    the    Symbol.     Peter 
said:  (1)  "I  believe  in  God  the   Father  Al' 
mighty  creator  of  heaven  niid earth."    Andrew 
said  :   (2)  «  And  in  Jesus  Christ,  His  only  Son, 
our  Lord        Janies  said  :  (3)  "  Who  was  con- 
ceived of  the    Holy  Ghost,  and   born  of  the 
Virgm     Mary."     John     said :  (4)    "Suffered 
under  Pontius  Pilate,  was  crucified,  died,  and 
was     buried.       Thomas    said:  (5)    "He   de- 
scended into  hell.     The  third    day  He  arose 
again  from  the  dead."     James  said  :  (6)  "  He 
ascended  into  heaven,  and  sitteth  on  the  right 
hand  of  God  the  Father  Almightv."     PhTlin 
said :  ( 0  "  Thence  He  shall  con^  to  judge  the 
ivnig  and  the  dead."     Bartholomew  said  :  (8) 
«.L    firUT  t'fHoly  Ghost."    Matthew 
Baid:  (9)    "The    holy   Catholic   Church,    the 
communion  of  saints."    Simon  said  :  ( 10)  "  The 
remission     of    sins."     Thaddaeus    said:  (11) 

/ 1 9 w.  Tr^^";?,^^'""  «{  tJ»«  flesh."     Mathias  said  : 
U^j      Ihe  life  everlastinjr."  ' 

» Sermon  240  (Migne,  torn.  30). 


ii  n 


313 


THE  SYMBOL 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


THE  ADDITIONS  TO  THE  CREED. 


I. 


The  Apos- 
tles Creed 
AND  THE  Ro- 
man Symbol. 


In  the  second  volume  of  his 
great  work  on  the  Apostles* 
Creed,  Dr.  Kattenbusch  says  em- 
phatically that  the  Received  Text, 
which  includes  the  additions  made  to  the  Old 
Roman  Symbol,  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  new 
form.'  Critical  and  historical  considerations 
led  the  German  investigator  to  this  conclusion. 
The  same  conclusion  has  been  reached  in  these 
pages,  mainly  on  theological  grounds.  It  re- 
mains to  discuss  these  additions,  which  distin- 
guish our  Apostles'  Creed  from  the  Old  Ro- 
man Symbol.  They  are  "  Creator  of  heaven 
and  earth,"  in  the  first  article  ;  "  conceived," 
in  the  third  ;  "suffered,"  "  died,"  "  descended 

»Cf.  The  Church  Quarterly  Review,  Oct.,  1902 ;  p.  221. 

314 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


into  heU,"  in  the  fourth;  "God"  and  "Al- 
mighty," in  the  seventh;  "Catholic"  and 
''  communion  of  saints,"  in  the  tenth  ;  "  and 
the  life  everlasting,"  in  the  twelfth. 


Self-Ex- 
plaining Ad- 
ditions. 


11. 

The  bulk  of  these  additions 
are  self-explaining.  The  first  lays 
stress  on  the  exercise  of  that  al- 
mighty power  which  is  appropriated  to  the 
Father.  The  Nicene  Creed  has  it,  as  well  as 
the  Creed  of  Jerusalem.  In  Irenseus  it  appears 
as  "  framer  of  he-^  *  :  and  earth,"  and  in  Ter- 
tullian  as  "make.  le  world."     These,  and 

phrases  of  Hke  import,  we  may  suppose  to  have 
been  the  watchwords  of  orthodox  believers  in 
their  controversy  with  the  Marcionites,  who 
denied  that  Christ  was  the  Sen  of  the  Creator. 
In  the  course  of  time  they  would  take  the  one 
stereotyped  form  that  we  are  familiar  with  to- 
day. "  Conceived,"  of  the  third  article,  "  suf- 
fered" and  "died,"  of  the  fourth,  "God" 
and  "  Almighty,"  of  the  seventh,  call  for  no 
special  comment.  The  addition,  "  descended 
into  hell,"  which  first  occurs  in  the  Creed  of 

315 


«  M 


THE  SY3IB0L 

Aquileia,  was  dealt  with  in  the  preceding 
chapter.  There  remain,  "  the  communion  of 
saintb,"  and  "  the  life  everlasting." 

The  latter  of  the  two  is  but  a  gloss  on  the 
"resurrection,"    of   the   twelfth    article.     St. 
Chrysostom  and  the  author  of  the  homily  de 
Symh.  ad   Catech.  tell  us  expressly  that  the 
words  were  added  to  define  the  meaning  of 
that  article.     They  do  not  occur  in  any  of  the 
forms  cited    by  Tertullian   or  Irenseus.     But 
they  were  part  of  the   Eastern    Creed   from 
a  very  early  time,  how  early  we  have  no  means 
of  knowing.     We   find    them   in    St.    Cyril's 
Creed,  and  in   the  Creed  of  Marcellus,  which 
is   much    older   than    Cyril's   Creed.     In  the 
West,  or  at  any  rate  in  the  Church  of  Car- 
thage, they  seem  to  have  crept  into  the  Creed 
from  the  baptismal  interrogatory. 


III. 


"^  mo?  or  i         ^^"^  "  communion  of  saints  "  is 

Saints.      :     ^  much  later  addition.     It  is  first 

f«»»d   in    an    exposition    of   the 

Svnbol  byNicetas  (?400  A.  D.),  and  in  the 

31G 


OF  THE  AP0STLE8. 

Creed  Of  Faustus  of  Hiez,  who  flourished  -n 
W  during  the  latter  half  of  the  Hf  th  century 
N-cetas   uses    the   words  ia    the   traditional 
Cathohc   sense.     They   serve    but   to    unfold 
more   fully  the   ulea  contained  in  "the  ho'y 
Church       of    the    Old    Roman    Creed.     The 
Cburch  which  IS  so  often  spoken  of  by  her 
Divme  Founder  as  the  Kingdom  of  God,  or  the 
Kingdom  of  Hea.en,  is  i„  the  world,  but  not 
ot  It.     She  knows  no  bo.uids  of  space  or  time  ; 
she  mocks  at  the  barriers  of  the  tomb.     She 
figh  s  s-a  and  error  here  on  earth,  where  now 

:^"     '•»'•'%>•"  P-'P""  -ay;  "she  comforts 
w  h  her  suffrage  those  who  "  fast  in  peniten- 
hal  fires;     she  is  comforted   in  turn  by  those 
Who      m  heaven  ever  cleave  to  God."     Such 
«u,e  Catholic  conception  of  the  communion 
of  samts  :  a  bond  which  holds  together  all  the 
children  of  God;  a  bond  which  Jeatl.  does  not 
sever,  winch  stretches  into  the  unseen,  which 
IS  transfigured  in  the  worhl  of  light,  and  unites 
eternally  all  of  Christ's  flock  "  i„  the  fold  upon 
the  everlasting  hills." 


II! 


IM 


317 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


IV. 


The  Word 
"Catholic." 


The  addition  "Catholic"  did 
not  find  its  way  into  any  West- 
ern Creed  till  well  on  in  the  fifth  century.  In 
the  East,  it  was  taken  into  the  Creed  at  a  much 
earlier  date.  It  is  in  the  Creed  of  Jerusalem, 
in  that  of  the  so-called  Apostolic  Constitu- 
tions, and  was  finally  incorporated  in  what  is 
known  as  the  Nicene  Creed.  Many  of  the 
Eastern  Churches  being  of  Apostolic  founda- 
tion, got  the  Creed  immediately  from  one  or 
other  of  the  Apostles.  But  none  of  them,  it 
would  appear,  kept  it  in  the  very  phrase,  with- 
out any  addition  whatever,  as  did  the  Apos- 
tolic Church  of  Rome.  If  we  could  only  be 
quite  sure  that  Marcellus  of  Ancyra  gives  us 
the  ij)sissima  verba  of  the  Creed  which  he  got 
from  his  "forefathers  in  God,"  we  should 
be  able  to  point  to  at  least  one  Eastern 
Creed,  and  that  the  earliest  known  of  formal 
Eastern  Creeds,  in  which  the  word  "  Catholic  " 
does  not  occur.  But  we  cannot  be  sure  of 
this ;  for  Marcellus  was  mainly  concerned  to 
set  forth  all   the    articles   of  his   Baptismal 

318 


I. 


THE  SYMBOI. 

Creed  and  would  not  be  over  solicitous  abont 
reproducing  the  exact  words.     Even  if  he  had 
learned  from  his  forefathers  in  God  to  confess 
his  faith  m  "  the  holy  Catholic  Church,"  he 
would  feel  that  there  was  no  great  need  of 
writing  the  word  "  Catholic  "  down,  as  being 
something  that  could  be  taken  for   granted 
And  in  fact,  St.  Augustine,  in  whose  Creed 
the   word   found   no  place,  does  take  it  for 
granted,  saying,  "  the  holy  Church,  Catholic, 
of  course."-   The  Symbol  had  long  outlived  it 
use  as  the  Christian  Watchword  when  Marcel- 
lus  came  to  Rome,  and  the  precise  wording  of 
Its  several  clauses  was  therefore  a  matter  of 
much  less  moment.     This  serves,  too,  to  ac- 
count tor  the  readiness  with  which  the  Creed 
of  Marcellus  was  received  and  approved  in  the 
i-ast,  a  few  years   after,  at   the   Council   of 
Sardica,3  a  tact  which,  in  its  turn,  confirms 

'  De  Fide  et  Symbolo,  c.  101. 

understand  t.at  Mareel,:';;:!.^:  ^t^Z^  ^ 
dee„,.d,t  needful."  a,  he  phrases  it  hin,self  (Migr "  p' 

of  hi         I:  *''  ''r'  *''^™«  *«  clear  himself  of   he  c  ar  Je 
of  heresy  brought  against  him  by  the  Eusebians  ^ 


THE  SYMBOL 

the  traditional  Catholic  view  of  the  Nicene 
Creed  as  being  but  an  elaborated  form  of  the 
ancient  Symbol  of  the  Apostles,  which  existed 
from  the  first  in  the  East  as  well  as  in  the 
West.  The  "  descent  into  hell "  was  not  as 
yet  in  the  Baptismal  Creed  of  the  East  in  the 
time  of  Marcellus,  as  Kufinus  bears  witness ; 
neither  had  "  the  communion  of  saints  "  been 
added  at  the  time  anywhere,  whether  in  the 
East  or  in  the  West.  But  while  Marcellus 
does  not  cite  "  Catholic,"  he  does  cite  the  only 
other  notable  addition  to  the  Apostolic  Symbol, 
namely,  "  the  life  everlasting."  Perhaps,  too, 
he  may  have  omitted  Catholic,  supposing  it  to 
have  been  in  the  Creed  of  his  baptism,  because 
it  was  not  so  much  part  of  the  Symbol  as  part 
of  the  name  of  the  Church,  which  it  is  not 
always  needful  to  give  in  full.  "  Catholic 
Church  "  means  neither  more  nor  less  to  the 
Catholic  than  "  Church,"  or  the  "  holy  Church  " 
of  the  Old  Roman  Creed. 


333 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


V. 


The  Name 
Catholic, 


And  this  brings  us  to  another 

point,  the  use  of  "Catholic'-'  with        

"Church  "  as  the  distinctive  and  peculiar  name 
oi   the   religious   society    founded   by   Jesus 
Christ.     We  have  seen  that  it  was  in  the  East 
the  word  first  made  its  way  into  the  Creed,  at 
what  time  we  know  not.     It   is   not  a   little 
significant  that  it  is  in  the  East,  too,  the  time- 
honored  appellation  "  Catholic  Church  "jnakes 
Its  first  appearance  in  written  records.     In  the 
New  Testament  the  one    word    "  Church  "  is 
the  name  given  to  that  visible   organization  of 
which  Christ  is  the  rounder  and  chief  corner- 
stone,  and  in  which  Peter  is  by  Christ's  own 
act  made  the  foundation  and  the  key-bearer 
and   given,   not   conjointly    with    the    other 
Apostles  only  (Matt.  18  :  18),  but  by  himself 
alone  supreme  power   to  bind  and  to    loose 
(lb.  16  :  19).    The  reader  is  referred  to  the  fol- 
lowing chapter  for  an  account  of  the  way  the 
word  Catholic  would  appear  to  have  first  come 
into  use  as  the  distinctive  element  in  the  name 
of  the  Church.     It   "was   not  intended,"  ob- 


21 


was 
321 


i  4  i  ' 


Ui 


THE  SYMBOL 

serves  on  this  head  the  keenly  critical  Profes- 
sor McGifEert,   "to  mark  the  distinction  be- 
tween the    Church   at  large  and  the  individ- 
ual   church  or    congregation,  for    the    latter 
mio-ht  he  as  truly  ^o-^">-^^-n  as  the   former/  but 
rather   apparently   to   indicate   the    universal 
purpose  or  significance  of  the  Church.     The 
Church  was  universal,,  not  simply  because  it 
was  spread  everywhere,  but  because  it  was  for 
every  one,  am   -3  belonged  to  and  had  a  mean- 
ing for  the  whoie  world."  ^    To  St.  Ignatius,  in 
whose  writings  the  term  Cathohc  ftrst  occurs, 
"Chui'ch"  and  "  Catholic  Church  "  mean   one 
and  the  same  thing.     "Let  no  one  do  any- 
thing pertaining  to  the  Church,"  he  writes, 
"  apart  from  the  bishop ;  let  that  be   esteemed 
a  sure  Eucharist  which  is  administered  either 
by  the  bishop  or  by  those  to   whom  he  has 
committed  it.    Where  the  bishop  is  seen,  there 
let  the  body  of  believers  be ;  even   as  where 
Christ  Jesus  is,  there  is  the  CatholicChurch."  ^ 
That  the  word  Catholic  was  already  used  in 

«  Cf .  Ignatius,  Smyrn.  8 ;  Mart.  Polyc.  16,  19. 
6  The  Apostles'  Creed,  p.  198. 
6  Smyrn.  8. 

333 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

the  first  half  of  the  second  century  without 
special  reference  to  its  meaning,  and  simply  as 
a  proper  name,  appears  from  a  passage  in   the 

Ep^leofthe  Church  of  Smyrna  w'hichi 
wntten  on  occasion  of  the  martyrdom  of  Poly, 
caq,     It  ,s  related  there  how  the  holy  Bishop 
and  Martyr  made  mention  in  his  prlyer-of 
the   whole   Catholic   Church  throughout  the 

OI.C  would  be  pleonastic,  were  it  descriptive 
and  not  appellative,  for  its  meaning  is  full' 
e^d  by  "whole"  and  "throughout  thi 

^-"''■t.on  of  the  Apostolic  authorship  of  the 
».-»ol.     Had  not  the  Creed  been  composed 
hU  some  t.me  ,n   the    second   century"  the 
Church  would  have  been  known  in  it  from  the 
first  by  her   distinctive   name.     And  as   no 
hypothesis  can  withstand  the  shock  of  even 
one  opposing  fact,  it  also  serves  to  overturn 
Pro  essor  McGiffert's  theory  of  the  later  oriZ 
of  the  use  of  "Catholic  "as  an  appellative 
'Migne,P.  G.,tom.  5.  col.  1041. 


i| 
if 

ill, 


023 


i: 


I 


3 


' 


THE  SYMBOL 


VI. 


From  AN 

Historical 

Point  of 

View. 


The  passage  in  which  Professor 
McGiffert  puts  this  theory  for- 
ward must  be  cited  in  full.  It  is 
of  especial  value.  It  embodies  the 
testimony  of  a  witness  who  has  gone  into  the 
original  sources  for  his  facts,  and  who  looks 
at  the  matter  from  a  purely  historical  point 
of  view.  He  assures  us  that  the  word  "  Cath- 
olic "  has  been  from  a  very  early  time  "  simply 
part  of  a  title,"  the  formal  and  distinctive  part 
of  the  name  of  the  historic  Church  of  Christ. 

"  As  time  passed  and  false  teaching  began 
to  make  trouble  within  the  church  and  to  re- 
quire the  exclusion  of  individuals  and  bodies 
of  Christians,  the  phrase  >'«'>'"'>«'?  ^xxXr^ma  came  to 
mean  the  true  Christian  church — the  one  only 
orthodox  church — in  distinction  from  all  heret- 
ical and  schismatical  bodies  which  might  call 
themselves  churches,  but  whi'^h  in  the  eyes  of 
Christians  in  general  were  not  really  so.  This 
meaning  appears  already  in  the  Muratorian 
fragment,  and  is  common  from  the  third  cen- 
tury on.  (Cf.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  Catecketics, 
XVIII.  26.)  This  true  Christian  church  being 
a  particular  visible  organized  institution,  dis- 

334 


I 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

nrrfm  ■'';■"  <'">?'»^t!ft'''>«^  owning  the 
name  ot  Christian  and  more  or  less  K;m.l„.f„  * 

jn  character,  the  phrase  «».w4  SlZaM 
might  be  used,  as  it  commonly  was  -  fter  tL 

a|ethatit:lr„tJ^j-^^^^^ 

wf  reflecL'*"""'^  "'"'i"^^'    ^^''»  *''« 
was  reflected  upon  and  analyzed  it  was  con, 

monly  interpreted  to  mean  exfsting  evIryXe 
and  to  refer  to  the  univei-sal  spread  of  tl  ! 
church  over  againso  the  local  chamcter  of  I t 
otruf:  fr'"^^^"'"^'  f»  instance  t 
tee  Donair  BuVtlie''"-"  ^"""o™^-^' 

think  that  th:'::i:d  cfthi  i  *::ra:;:,:rr'ti:: 

versaiity  ot  the  Church  [that  it  was  a,Ido,1  t„ 
the  ««w  in  order  to  draw  atll'on  t„  tl  ^ 
r^T^'ll  °*  "'"  ^'»"^h  is  the  thesis  main! 
k^^H  -K  '^  T'  "•'•''P'^'J'  "  i"  anj  o  her  of 

"r  known      Not.  •"""'  ^^  "'"^''  *''«  <=''««"' 
Wets.   Known.     JNothingf   more   \vn«   m^o^^    i, 

^ooW,.  alone.     To  read  into  the  word  «  /I 

ot  Its  own  [which  Zahn  does,  T/^Ariicksff 

335 


THE  SYMBOL 

the  Apostles'  Creed,  p.  180]  is  not  historically 
justified.  It  is  simply  part  of  a  title,  just  as 
to-day  '  The  Catholic  Church '  is  the  popular 
title  of  the  Roman  communion." — pp.  199- 
200. 

VII. 


A  Question 
OF  Vital 
Moment. 


Here  comes  up  a  question  that 
has  greatly  exercised  the  critics, 
a  question,  too,  of  vital  moment. 
What  did  the  expression  "  Catholic  Church  " 
stand  for  in  the  minds  of  the  early  Christians  ? 
Harnack,  who  incidentally  mentions  the  inter- 
esting fact  that  the  addition  of  CathoHc  was 
abolished  by  the  Protestant  Churches  in  Ger- 
many, under  Luther,  and  replaced  by  Chris- 
tian, contends  that  "  Originally  it  meant  nothing 
more  than  the  universal   Church,  the  whole 
Christian  community  called  of  God  on  earth. 
The  idea  of  applying  it  to  the  concrete,  visible 
Church  was  not,"  he  alleges,  "  yet,  i.  e.  in  the 
second  century,  thought  of."  *   Zahn  holds  that 
in  "its  original  meaning  the  word  CathoHc  re- 

•  The  Apostles'  Creed  (Tlie  Nineieenth  Century,  July, 
1893,  p.  178). 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

minds  us  only  of  an  attribute  of  the  Church 
which  contributes  essentiaUy  to  make  her  an 
object  of  faith."     FoUowing  the  received  Prot- 
estant theory,  he  makes   the  Church  of  the 
Creed  an   invisible   Church.     But  he  admits 
that   "another    use   of   the    words    CathoHc 
Church  developed  itself  in  the  second  century 
side  by  side  with  the  original  one."     Out  of 
this  use  "arose  the  opposition  of  the  one  great 
Catholic    Church   and    the    smaller   heretical 
communities,  which  »    ^ertheless  called  them- 
selves Churches  also,  and  were  even  so  called 
occasionally  by  their  opponents."     This  second 
use,  however,  he  deems  an  «  unfortunate  mode 
of  speech." '     The  Anglican   Swete  combats 
this   view   which   would   make   of   the    early 
Catholic  Church  "  an  invisible  abstraction,  real- 
ized  by  a  mental  process,  but  possessing  as  yet 
no  tangible  form."     He  points  out  that  "  this 
is  true  of  the  Church  in  the  same  sense  as  it  is 
true  of  every  world-wide  society  which  cannot 
be  presented  to  the  eye  in  its  completeness  ; 
but   it  is  no  less  true  of  the    later  Catholic 
Church  than  of  its  earliest  beginnings.     On 

•  27ie  Articles  0/  tJie  Apostles'  Creed,  p.  183. 


THE  SYMBOL 

the  other  hand  the  units  which  compose  the 
Catholic  Church  were  as  concrete  and  visible 
in  the  days  of  Ignatius  as  in  those  of  Cyprian. 
When  Ignatius  argues  that  the  Bishop  is  the 
centre  of  the  particular  Church,  as  Jesus  Christ 
is  of  the  whole  Society,  he  certainly  means  by 
the  Catholic  Church  the  aggregate  of  all  the 
Christian  congregations,  which  were  visible 
and  concrete  bodies."  '° 


VIII. 


The  Church 
One  and 
Visible. 


To  enter  here  into  this  question 
fully  would  carry  us  too  far  afield. 
Yet  something  must  be  said.  It 
is  obvious  to  remark,  at  the  outset,  that  the 
"  Catholic  Church  "  of  the  sub-apostolic  age  is 
identical  with  the  "holy  Church"  of  the 
Creed  and  the  «  Church  "  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. The  Faith  of  the  sub-apostolic  age  is 
the  Faith  of  the  apostolic  R^e  and  of  the  New 
Testament.  Now,  tlie  Church  of  the  New 
Testament  is  a  visible  Church,  and  it  is  one. 
Many  local  churches  are  mentioned,  but  one  is 

w  Tlie  Apostles'  Creed,  p.  76. 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

the   CWh  which   Christ  founded.     I„  the 
prophetical  wntings  of  the  Old  Testament  it  is 
outhned  as  (1)  oup    « =    k-     j      .,      , . 
"th.  P„J    r  L  '  Kingdom"   which 

the  God  of  heavon  shall  set  up,  which  shaU 
never  be  destroyed"  (Dan.  2:  44);  as  (2) 
v>«.ble,  aye,   "the  mountain   of  the   Lord' 

(Is.  2  :  2)      Christ  Himself,  the  Pounder,  al- 

my    Church       (Matt.    16  :  18)    and   "  th^ 

«  Church  "(lb.  18:  17),  never  in  ^e  p.  Ja, 
He  means  it  plainly  to  be  a  visible  Church  «  a 
city  set  upon  a  hill "   (Matt.   5  :  14)    '  He 
draws  a  sharp  line  of  demarcation  between  it 
and  the  great  invisible  congregation  of  ai!  be- 
hevers  which  mounts  up  to  the  beginning  of 
the  race   when  He  says  to  Peter,  V»Mt> 
rock  wtll  I  build  my  Church  (Matt.  16  •  18) 
And  this  IS  the  conception  of  the  Church 
which  prevaJed,  too,  in  the  sub^postolic  time. 
Ignatius  "means  by  the  Catholic  Church  the 
aggregate  of  all  the  Christian  congregations 
which  were  visible  and  concrete  bodies  j"  thii 
«  quite  true,  but  it  is  only  half  of  the  truth. 
These  v«,ble  and  concrete  bodies  ate  no  mere 

m 


THE  SYMBOL  ^ 

aggregate,    but    one  great    communion,  one 
society,  held  together  by  a  close  organic  bond. 
They  coalesce  into  what  the  Saint  calls  "  one 
body   of  His  Church."  "     The   institution  of 
the   Papacy  and   the    Holy   Spirit  acting   in 
and  with  the  Apostles  solved  once  for  all  and 
from   the   beginning   what  has  been  happily 
described  as  the  problem  of  "  throwing  a  net- 
wrrk   of   ecclesiastical   organization  over"  all 
ncu  ions  "  without  its  breaking  along  the  lines 
of  national  cleavage."     As  a  consequence  of 
this  the  member  who  was  cut  off  from  the  com- 
munion of  one  of  those  "  Christian  congrega- 
tions" was,  by  that  very  fact,  cut  off  from  the 
communion  of  all— of  the  Catholic  Church,  in 
short.     Hence  we  find  Ignatius  saying,  "  All 
that  are  of  God,  and  Jesus  Christ,  these  are 
with  the  Bishop  ;  and  all  that  shall  repent  and 
turn  to  the  unity  of  the  Church,  these  also  shall 
be  of  God  "  (Phil.  3).     Hence,  when  Marcion 
is  cast  out  of  the  Church,  in  Pontus,  he  seeks 
in  vain  to  gain  admission  into  the  Church  in 
Rome.     Hence,  too,  one  of  those   "concrete 
and  visible  units  "  which  composed  the  Church 


"  Ad  Sviyr.  c.  1. 


330 


i;  i 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

of  Christ  in  the  sub-apostolic  age,  can  describe 
itself  as  *'  the  Catholic  Church  of  Smyrna,"  " 
conscious  of  its  organic  connection  with  "  that 
Church  which  is   in   each   several   place " ;  '^ 
conscious  of  seeking  "  the  union  of  the  Church," 
and  of  having  no  part  with  those  who  "sever 
and  distract  Christ's  great  and  glorious  Body, 
and,  as  far  as  in  them  lies,  make  away  with  it."  '^ 
To   Zahn,  in   view   of   "  the   meaning  of  the 
word  (Catholic)  and  of"  what  he  conceives  to 
have   been  "  the  original  use  of  the  term,  it 
seems   an   absolute  contradiction  in  terms  to 
speak  of  the  Bishop  of  the  Catholic  Church  of 
Smyrna."  '5     It  could  not  so  have  seemed  to 
those  men  of  the  sub-apostolic  age,  else  they 
would   never  have  used  it.     The  usage  is  at 
least  partly  accounted  for  by  the  explanation 
given  above.     We  reach  the  full  explanation 
when  we  call  to  mind  that  "  Catholic  Church  " 
is  used  in  the  same  document  as  the  distinctive 
name   and  title  of  the   one  true  Church   of 


II 


f:|i 


"  Cf.  Martyr.  Polyc.  16  and  19. 
"  IreiiBBUs,  Adv.  Haer.  bk.  4  ;  c.  33  :  n.  8. 
"  lb.  n.  7. 

^  Tlie  Apostles'  Creed,  p.  183. 

331 


THE  SYMBOL 


Christ.  No  congregation  of  the  Nicolaits,  or 
of  the  Valentinians  that  might  then  have  ex- 
isted in  Smyrna  would  dare  call  itself  the 
"  CathoUc  Church." 


IX. 


i 


A  Specious 
Objection. 


But  here  an  objection  must  be 
met,   which   shall  be  stated  at 
length  in  the  words  of  Zahn  : 

"  If  faith  is  a  steadfast  waiting  for  things 
hoped  for  and  a  proving  of  things  not  seen 
(Heb.  11  :  1),  then  the  thought  of  primitive 
Christianity  expressed  in  the  words :  /  believe 
a  Holy  Cliiu'ch  was  very  important.  For  in 
her  being  and  in  her  essential  character  the 
Church  is  invisible,  however  visible  and  tan- 
gible her  embodiments  and  her  manifold  modes 
of  appearing  may  be.  Without  the  indwelling 
Holy  Spirit,  whom  we  cannot  see,  the  Church 
would  be  a  corpse ;  without  the  Christ  who  is 
ascended  into  heaven  she  would  only  be  a 
trunk ;  and  again  without  the  risen  Christ  as 
the  corner  and  the  key-stone  on  which  her 
faithful  ones,  like  Him,  build  themselves  up  as 
living  stones,  she  would  be  a  house  of  cards. 
Without  those  generations  of  the  faithful,  who 
have  gone  before,  the  Church  at  any  moment, 

332 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


even  without  taking  into  account  the  divisions 
and  the  equal  y  unnatural  alliances  existing  at 
the  time,  would  be  but  a  fragment.  And  not 
only  would  she  be  this,  but  she  is  in  fact.     I 

onP.1.  l^^^ii?^'"''^"'^^^  ^"  *^«  h«Pe  that 
one  day  all  wiU  be  reunited,  who  belong  to  one 

another  but  are  now  separated,  by  time  and 
place,  by  the  imperfection  of  human  knowl- 
edge, and  by  death  ;  and  that  all  the  children 

•.  /  M?  ^^""^  ^"^^^  ^^^^^'  perfected  and  re- 
united, will  one  day  appear  that  which  Christ 
would  have  them  to  be.  Until  the  fulfiment 
ot  this  hope  the  Church  is  a  mystery  which  I 
either  beheve  or,  otherwise,  do  not  possess.- 
Up.  cit.  p.  179.  '^ 

And  at  page  184  : 

"It  cannot  be  an  article  of  faith  to  believe 
the  palpable  fact  that  the  local  communities, 
whose  Bishops  were  a  Polycarp  or  an  August! 
me,  possessed  the  same  confessions  as  the  large 
Christian  communities  of  other  towns  and 
lands,  and  were  in  communion  with  them,  while 
the  same  did  not  hold  good  of  the  followers  of 
a  JVlarcion  or  an  Arius," 

The  gist  of  this  may  be  put  briefly  thus. 
Belief  in  the  holy  Church,  or  the  holy  Cath- 
olic Church,  is  part  of  the  Creed  and  an  article 

333 


THE  SYMBOL 

of  Faith ;  therefore  the  Church  is  invisible.  We 
must  distinguish  the  sense  of  the  conclusion. 
The  Church,  so  far  forth  as  it  is  an  article  of 
faith,  is  invisible  ;  this  we  grant.  The  Church, 
so  far  forth  us  it  is  a  Society  composed  of  a 
ruling  and  teaching  authority  and  the  multi- 
tude of  believers  in  every  land  who  hold  the 
same  Faith,  is  invisible ;  this  must  be  denied. 
Zahn's  error  on  this  head  comes  of  his  failing 
to  distinguish  the  human  element  in  the  Church 
from  the  divine,  the  visible  from  the  invisible. 
The  self-same  Church  is  at  once  visible  and  in- 
visible, visible  in  respect  of  her  body,  invisible 
in  respect  of  her  soul.  Zahn  all  unconsciously 
brings  his  Protestant  preconceptions  to  the 
study  of  this  subject.  But  his  treatment  of  it 
throughout  is  so  reverent  that  it  lends  an 
added  pathos  to  the  last  words  of  the  first  cita- 
tion given  above.  And  one  is  glad  to  be  able 
to  believe  that  he  belongs  to  what  theologians 
have  not  inaptly  named  the  "  soul "  of  that 
one,  holy.  Catholic,  and  Apostolic  Church  with 
which  he  plainly  feels  himself  not  to  be  in 
visible  communion. 


334 


OP  THE  APOSTLES. 


fl 


X. 


Zahn  is  "near   the  kingdom    =    A  Divine 
of   God"   when    he    says    that    l^^^.^:!^'':... 
"  without   the  indwelling  Holy  Spirit,  whom 
we    cannot    see,    the    Church    would    be    a 
corpse."     Therefore  it  is  a  living  body,  and 
Kvmg   because   the  Holy    Spirit  gives  it  life. 
And  this  life  is  visible,  in  the  activities  of  a 
living  body,  the  Catholic  Church.     To  many 
it  is  an  object  of  sight  only.     To  others  it  is 
an  object  of  both  sight  and  faith.     So  was 
Jesus  Christ  on  earth  an  object  of  sight  to  all, 
and  of  both  sight  and  faith  to  «  those  who  had 
eyes  to  see."     He  was  an  object  of  faith,  even 
before  He  became  invisible.     It  was  not  flesh 
and  blood   but  the   Father   in   Heaven    that 
enabled  Peter  to  believe  in  Him  as  the  Son  of 
God.     For  the  same  reason  it  is  unnecessary  to 
suppose  the  Church  invisible  in  order  to  make 
it  the  object  of  an  act  of  faith.     By  sight  we 
see  that  the  Church  is  alive.     By  faith  we  be- 
lieve that  this  life  is  divine,  proceeding  from 
the  indwelling  Holy  Ghost  and  containing  all 
the  supernatural  means  of  truth  and  grace.     It 

335 


m 


I 


THE  SYMBOL 

is  only  the  Protestant  preconceptions  of  Zahn 
which  make  him  argue  on  the  hypothesis  that 
whatever  is  divine  in  the  Church  is  necessarily 
invisible  and  that  whatever  is  visible  is  neces- 
sarily humaij.  Applied  to  Orr  Lord  this 
h3rpothesis  results  in  a  denial  of  His  divinity. 
Applied  to  the  Church  considered  as  an  object 
of  faith  it  results  in  a  denial  of  her  visibility. 
The  Protestant  doctrine  of  the  sacraments  is 
an  instance  of  the  tendency  to  separate  the 
divine  from  the  visible,  a  tendency  altogether 
foreign  to  the  Catholic  Church  of  the  first  age 
or  of  any  age. 


XI. 


The  Rohan 
Symbol  UN- 
revised. 


There  is  one  more  point,  wt  1»  h 
may  as  well  be  dealt  with  before 
concluding  the  present  chapter 
The  text  of  the  Old  Roman  Creed,  which  is 
the  Apostolic  Sjrmbol  in  its  primitive  form,  is 
assumed  in  these  pages  to  have  remained  un- 
changed till  at  r  the  fifth  century.  That  the 
additions  made  since  then  have  in  no  wise 
changed,  but  only  unfolded,  its  meaning,  has 
been,  it  is  hoped,  clearly  shown  in  the  course 

336 


II 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

of  this  work.     But  certain  of  the  critics  try  to 
make  out  that  a  word  was  dropped  from  the 
first  article  of  the  Roman  Creed  and  another 
added,   m   the   course   of   the  third   oentmy. 
Zahn  18  of  opinion  that  the  form  ran,  during 
the  second  century,  «  I  believe  in  one  God,  the 
Almighty."     It  would  be  tedious  to  enter  hero 
upon  the  reasons  which  he  brings  forward  in 
support   of  this    theory.     That    the    Roman 
Lhurch  omitted   the   word  "one"  from   her 
Creed  to  counteract  the  Unitarianism  of  Praxeas 
IS,  on  the  face  of  it,  utterly  unlikely.     This 
would  have  been  not  so  much  a  confession  of 
the  Faith  as  a  confession  of  weakness.     Cei- 
tamly  the  burden  of  proof  rests  with  him  who 
asserts  that  the  word  «  one  "  was  at  first  in  the 
Roman  Creed,  and  it  is  no  proof  to  show  that 
It  occurs  m  the  creed-forms  that   are  to  be 
found  in  Irenaeus  and  Tertullian.     Neither  of 
these  writers  cites  or  pretends  to  cite  the  Creed 
word  for  word.     And  as  the  oneness  of  God 
was    clearly  implied  in  the  first  article,  they 
would   not  scruple  to  set  forth  the   idea  ex- 
plicitly m  their  controversy  with  the  dualists  of 
their  day. 

23  337 


THE  SYMBOL 

When  Leo  the  Great,  in  his  letter  to  Flavian 
of  Constantinople,  declared,  "  All  the  Faithful 
profess  to  believe  in  God  the  Fatacr  Almighty, 
and  in  Jesus  Christ  His  Only  Son,"  one  of  the 
Eutychians  queried,  '•  Why  did  he  not  say  in 
one  God  the  Father,  and  in  one  Jesus,  accord- 
ing to  the  decree  of  the  Council  of  Nice  ? " 
To  thi.  Vigilius  of  Thapsus  was  able  to  make 
the  following  reply  :  "  But  in  Rome,  even  be- 
L.e  the  Nicene  Council  met,  from  the  time  of 
the  Apostles  onward,  and  under  Celestine  of 
blessed  memory,  .  .  .  the  Symbol  was  so  given 
to  the  faithful ;  nor  does  the  wording  matter 
so  long  as  the  sense  remains  unimpaired.  This 
profession  of  the  Faith,  too,  is  more  in  accord 
with  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ,  where  He 
says :  You  believe  in  God,  believe  in  Me  also 
(John  14  ;  1).  He  did  not  say  in  one  God  the 
Father,  and  in  one  Christ ;  for  who  is  there 
but  knows  that  God  the  Father  is  one,  and 
that  His  Son  Jesus  Christ  is  one  ?  "  '^  This 
seems  decisive  of  the  matter.  The  Apostles 
would  use  the  simpler  form  "  God  "  rather  than 

^Def.  Ep.  S.  Leonis  Papce,  n.  1  (Migne,  P.  L.,  torn.  62, 
col.  119). 

338 


^^fmi. 


OFTHE  APOSTLES. 


The  Word 

"Fathkk." 


one  God,  the  more  so  that  the  M.3ter,  so 
far  as  His  words  have  been  embalmed  in  the 
Crospels,  never  uses  the  expression  «  one  God  " 

the  Old  Testament  (Mark,  12  :  29),  and  even 
in  his  lastance  "  one  "  stands  in  the  predicative, 
not  m  the  attributive,  relation  to  «  God." 

XII. 

Neither  does  Zahn  succeed  in 
showing    that   "Father"    was 
added  to  the  primitive  Creed.     On   the  con- 
trary, in  his  attempt  to  show  it,  he  does  but 
contradict   himself.      At    page   56,   he    con- 
siders  It    "as   proved  that  the  Greed  of  the 
Galhcan  Church,  the  Churches  of  Asia  Minor 
Lmcluding    of  course,  that  of  Ephesus]  ai.-i 
Africa,  and  also  of  the  Roman   Church,  which 
was  the  mother  of  the  African,  ran  thus  durin,. 
the  second  century :  "  I  believe  in  one  God^ 
the  Almighty."     But  at  page  74  he  tells  us 
hat     something  more  may  be  said  with  toler- 
able certainty  about  the  contents  of  Justin's 
baptisma  confession  than  that  it  contained  the 
names  of  God  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ,  and 

339 


THE  SYMBOL 


the  Holy  Ghost  in  this  order."  If  this  is  so, 
then  the  word  "Father"  was  in  the  Creed, 
after  all,  during  the  second  century,  and  the 
statement  proved  in  the  first  citation  is  dis- 
proved in  the  second.  And  indeed  the  place 
of  "  Father  "  in  the  Creed  was  as  secure  from 
the  first  as  that  of  Son  and  Holy  Ghost.  For 
the  Creed,  as  Zahn  himself  maintains,  is  based 
on  the  baptismal  formula,  which  runs  "  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost." 


xm. 


The  Fosoet- 
PUL  CErric. 


Had  Zahn  but  kept  in  view 
the  fact  to  which  he  himself 
so  unequivocally  bears  witness  at  page  43, 
he  would  have  seen  that  the  formulary 
which  he  pieces  together  from  second  century 
writings  is,  and  from  the  naiure  of  the  case 
needs  must  be,  conjectural,  at  least  so  far  as 
the  precise  wording  of  it  goes.  For  if  "  it  is 
true  that  neither  Irenaeus  nor  Tertullian  has 
given  the  exact  form  of  the  rule  of  truth," 
being  "  kept  back  by  the  principle  maintained 
for  hundreds  of  years  in  the  Church,  that  this 

340 


OF  THE  AP03TLEa. 

confession  should  not  be  written  with  pen  and 
.nk,  bat  should  be  imprinted  on  the  hfar"  and 

We  cannot  ,n  every  case  determine  what  be- 
longs  to  the  formuk  contained  in  the  author's 

Horz  Xfi  T ''  '"^  "^  ^''•'-'  -p'-- 

and  the  „pp„.,  ,„„  ^j  the  time  " ;  what  basis  of 

s^Me  fact  .  left  us  whereon  to  build  a  ce. 
tamty?  Singular,  isn  .,  it?  the  critics  ahnost 
everyone  note  the  fact  that  the  early  Chrirtkn 
wnters  either  are  silent  about  the  Symb^rTr 

thejr  own  to  keep  the  uninitiated  from  learning 
the.r  Watchword  ;_they  note  the  fact,  I  say! 
and  the.,  proceed  straightway  to   dogmatize 
about  the  ongin  of  this  same  Symbol,^a„d  to 
determ.ne  what  the  exact  form  and  wording  o? 
was  at  a  tame  when,  „„  their  own  show,W 
they  have  no  data  whence  they  can  reach  a,^ 
certajn  co«clus.on  on  the  subject.     Verily  i„ 
th«  „  the  votary  of  historical  criticism  "like 
unto  a  man  beholding  his  natural  face  in  a 
nurror;  for  he  beholdeth  himself,  and  goeth 
away,  and  forthwith  forgetteth  what  manner 

341 


THE  SYMBOL 


of  man  he  was  "  (James,  1 :  23, 24).  Another 
signal  instance  of  this  fatal  facility  in  forget- 
ting is  furnished  by  Zahn  at  page  91,  where  he 
assumes  that  the  words  "  of  David's  seed " 
found  a  place  in  the  Creed  known  to  St.  Igna- 
tius. This  assumption  he  bases  on  the  fact 
that  these  words  occur  in  the  summary  of 
"  christological  attributes "  that  Ignatius  sets 
before  us.  Zahn  again  forgot  what  he  had 
written  at  page  43.  In  order  to  imprint  his 
words  on  the  heart  and  memory  of  the  reader 
they  are  once  more  cited  here,  and  will  serve 
to  close  this  chapter.  "  It  is  true  that  neither 
Irenseus  nor  Tertullian  has  given  the  exact 
form  of  their  rule  of  truth.  They  were  kept 
back  by  the  principle  maintained  for  hundreds 
of  years  in  the  Church,  that  this  confession 
should  not  be  written  with  pen  and  ink,  but 
should  be  imprinted  on  the  heart  and  memory." 


342 


OFTHE  APOSTLES. 


A  Rrjected 
Hypothesis. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  NAME  CATHOUC. 
I. 

^fthe  name  Catholic  Church 
in  the  first  century  all  that  writ- 
ten records  enable  us   to  say  is  that  it  wa^ 
already   in   use.     The   mention   of  it  by   St 
Ignatius  m  a  way  which  supposes  it  to  have 
been  ah.e..ly  well  known  proves  this  much; 
but  there  is  no  positive   evidence  of  the  way 
theappeUation  first  came  to  be  used.     Inquirers 
have  therefore  to  resort  to  hypotheses,  and  of 
these  there  are  three  which  claun  to  account 
for  its  origin. 

Some  suggest  that  as  the  word  «  Church  " 
was  used  sometimes  to  mean  the  whole  Church 
and  sometimes  a  particular  clmrch,  as  that  of 
Corinth,   for  instance,  the  word  "Catholic" 

343 


"fm. 


THE  SYMBOL 

was  adopted  to  mark  the  distinction.  The 
Rev.  R.  E.  Bartlett,  late  Fellow  of  Oxford 
University  says : 

"  The  Catholic  Church  meant  originally  the 
whole  congregation  of  Christian  people  scat- 
tered throughout  the  world,  as  opposed  to  the 
smaller  congregations  of  Christians  dwelling  in 
separate  cities  or  meeting  in  a  particular 
house." 

This  hypothesis  is  excluded  by  the  records 
of  antiquity.  It  has  been  shown  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapter  that  particular  Churches  were 
also  called  Catholic  in  the  sub- Apostolic  age. 


II. 


Another 
Hypothesis. 


Other  writers  suggest  that  the 
rise  of  heresies  was  the  occasion 
of  the  Church  being  called  Catholic,  to 
distinguish  her  from  the  sects.  St.  Pacian, 
in  a  well  known  passage,  puts  forth  this 
hypothesis,  not  because  he  thought  it  well 
founded,  for  his  own  opinion  was  that  the 
word  had  a  divine  origin,  but  as  a  passing  con- 
cession to  his  Novatian  correspondent  when 

344 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

some  hypothesis  became  necessary  in  his  ar- 
gument.     There  is  a  sense  in  which  this  hypt 
thesis  may  be  well  fonnded.     Individual  mem- 
bers may  have  adopted  the  name  of  the  Church 
for  themselves  in  this  way.     For  some  cen- 
tones  they  caUed  themselves  Christians:  but 
when  heretics  persisted  in  claiming  the  Christ, 
mn  name  and  it  was  found  impossible  to  re- 
fuse It  to  any  who  were  baptized  and  who  pro- 

Church  had  ,n  course  of  time,  to  adopt  the 
name  of  the  Church  and  call  themselves  Cath- 
oI.cs  to  mark  the  distinction  between  them- 
selves and  heretics.  But  the  word  was  applied 
to  the  Church  first,  and  was  apjlicable  to  the 
members  only  when  it  came  into  use  as  the 
proper  name  of  the  Chuich.     As  an  explrna- 

called  Cahohc  the  second  hypothesis  is  but  an 
improbable  guess.  It  supposes  that  the  argu- 
ment  from  universality  was  used  commonly  and 
with  much  public  insistence  against  the  sects 
at  a  time  when  the  immediate  dUcipIes  of  the 
Apostles  wei^  still  everywhere  accessible,  when 
all  the  Sees  founded  by  the  Apostles  were  still 

345 


li'  :^i 

■4 


THE  SYMBOL 


orthodox,  and  when  the  heresies  to  be  opposed 
were  the  very  same  as  those  abeady  expressly 
condemned  by  the  Apostles.  A  name  was 
undoubtedly  needed  to  distinguish  the  Church 
from  the  sects,  even  if  we  cannot  suppose  that 
the  argument  from  universality  was  much  used 
against  heretics  at  the  time  ;  but  if  opposition 
to  heresy  had  been  the  occasion  of  selecting  a 
new  name,  the  Church  would  have  been  called 
the  Apostolic  Church,  not  the  Catholic  Church, 
and  the  members  Apostolics,  not  Catholics. 
For  many  years  after  the  introduction  of  the 
Catholic  name  the  common  argument  against 
heretics  was  ApostoHc  tradition. 


III. 


Cathouo  and 
Christian. 


Even   as  late   as   the    fourth 
century  St.  Athanasius  was  able 


to  use  the  foUowinff  argfument : 


Formerly,  when  we  were  all  united  Christ- 
ians both  in  doctrine  and  name,  Marcion  be- 
came a  heretic  and  was  excommunicated,  and 
those  who  sided  with  the  Bishop  thai  had  ex- 
pelled him  retained  the  name  of  Christians, 

346 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

ManicWu.,  and'  sln'^fc^"-. 

names  to  those   who  became^Theif  dTscilT 
Ihese  were  named  after  *!.„        ir  ,  "'*.<"P'e8. 

Basilidians,  Mlnfohees  and  r"^*'*"**"'""'' 
wisB  the  rl*,  iT      •    '  *"''  Simonians.     Like- 

Fhry^a     ^t'l^Z"^^'.'^'^  "''«'«  from 
tus^"   '    ^vt  .^  '  •  Novahans    from   Nova- 

Ateand^  ^rZZ    m:m"'"^T'    ''^*- 

denominated  Arians      AnT"  *'"'*,?'»«  "ere 
death,  those  tW  =1  •  '"'^.  Alexander's 

successor    A  fir«       •      '"  T""""'™  '"tt  h« 
Sps  'as  heiS'"''   ^'"^.^■^.^•'e''    other 

same  z^  ':r  zz^rt^'A^" 

caued  Christmns  m  contradistinction  to  here- 
fed  and  ir°"*'^'i°  ""PP"'*  *'«'*  t-o  •"•»- 
ared  and  fifty  years  before  this  time  the  Church 

1,^  ^<»aw.  u«n.  l,p.  308  (M  a.„„„  OoU,nta,. 

347 


»- 


i 


A  Mant- 

Nationed 
Church. 


needed  to  be  called  other  than  C»n  >n 
contradistinction  toheret.calbod.es?  Or  th^ 
individual  members  conld  have  so  long  r^ 
^Td  a  name  different  from  that  of  the 
TnL  if  both  names  had  reference  to  the 
^^rlg?  The  second  hypotes«  must  be 
aUowed  to  go  the  vray  of  the  first. 

IV. 

Hurter,  in  his  Compendium 
Theologm,  bases  his  definition  of 
Catholicity  on  the  second  hypo- 
thesis, with  the  result  that  hU  treatment  of  the 
S-t  is  vague  and  unsatisfactory      Billot^ 
1  h  abler'theologian.  returns  to  Ae  t« 
^itional  definition,  the  one  given  by  the  bate- 
fwm  of  rCouncil  of  Trent,  and  the  one  iur 
St soma^terly  awayby Ucord.re-h« 

Confh-mces.    This  definition  is  based,  not  on 

•'    :■■  ,.•    t:^„  tn  the  different  sects,  but  on 
contradistinction  to  tne  QiuB  „.  ^. 

the  inclusion  of  di^^opU^^^ 

'^'T-'ln  1  s    W  the  'actual  diffusion 
ird'oirUolicity  must  always  be 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

^^^w"  "^u-^  '"*  ^"«'"*  "  *»  People 
withrn  WWh  of  these  divisions  was  the 
onginal  occasion  of  the  Church  being  caUed 
Cathohc?  The  third  hypothesis  is  that  the 
Church  was  so  caUed  as  being  a  many-nationed 
Church  in  contradistinction  to  the  Church  of 
the  Jews  which  consisted  of  only  one  nation. 

Ihe  Fathers  adduce  the  caUing  of  the  Gen- 
tiles as  prophesied  by  Isaias  in  confirmation  of 
their  Idea  of  Catholicity,  when  "the  wolf  shall 
dvreU  with  the  lamb,  and  the  leopard  shall  he 
down  ^th  the  kid,  and  the  calf  and  the  young 
hon  and  the  fatling  together."     That  is,  th! 
Gentile  nations,   despite   their   diversities   of 
mce  and  civ^^ation,  their  opposing  interests 
and  natural  jealousies,  shall  abide  together  in 
one  Chinch.     This  is  the  true  idea  of  Cath" 
acity.     Its  opposite  is  the  idea  that  each  na- 

chU     '    ""  "  "P""'"  "<•«?--»-* 

No  one  pretends  that  the  Bishops  met  in  the 

Cathohc.  It  must  have  come  i„,,.  „,e  in  some 
Cher  way.  Nor  would  there  be  any  difficulty 
at  aU  if  It  were  only  a  questiuu  of  an  adjective 


i< 


THE  SYMBOL 

denoting  an  essential  quality  of  the  Church. 
The  existence  of  the  quality  would  sufficiently 
account  for  the  origin  of  the  word.  The 
words  "holy"  and  "  Apostolic  "  came  natu- 
rally into  use  in  this  way.  But  the  adoption  of 
a  name  is  a  very  different  matter.  It  is  the 
selection  of  one  among  several  possible  words. 
How  did  it  happen  that  the  same  name  was 
adopted  everywhere  ?  There  must  have  been 
some  event  or  influence  of  general  and  impres- 
sive importance  to  lead  all  to  concur  in  adopt- 
ing the  same  name. 


V. 


P^'^^oTisM  :  At  the  time  of  the  Ascension 
Reuoion.  *^6  Apostles  had  not  received 
full  instruction  regarding  the 
catholicity  of  the  Church.  Their  last  question 
to  the  Master  implies  their  belief  that  Israel 
was  to  retain  a  privileged  position  in  the  King- 
dom of  God.  They  asked  whether  He  would 
then  restore  the  Kingdom  to  Israel.  His 
reply  showed,  indeed,  that  the  Kingdom  was 
to  be  universal  j  but  as  to  the  position  of 

350 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

Israel  in  it,  it  was  not  for  them  to  know  the 
toes  or  moments  which  the  Father  had  put  in 
His  own  power.     This  reserve  was  part  of  a 
merciful  plan,  so  to  say,  by  which   salvation 
was  offered  to  the  Jews  without  sudden  shock 
to  their  keen  sense  of  nationality.     The  tran- 
sition  from  the  Jewish  to  the  Christian  Church 
was  thus  made  gradual-the  Kingdom  came 
without  observation.     After  tJie  day  of  Pente- 
cost converts  were  received  in  large  numbers: 
Dut  m  their  case  conversion   did  not  involve 
separation  from  the  Church  of  the  Jews.    This 
was  a  divine  institution,  and  separation  from  it 
was  not  yet  imposed  as  a  duty.     The  converts 
as  well  as  the  Apostles  continued  to  worship 
in  the  Temple  and  observe  the  Law  of  Moses 
Christian  children  were  still  circumcised.     For 
several  years  the  Apostles  preached  only  to  the 
children  of  the  circumcision.     To  the  Gentiles 
the  Christian  Church  presented  the  appearance 
of  a  Jewish  sect,  and  the  faithful  were  caUed 
tralileans  and    Nazaienes.     Without    further 
direct  mtervention  of  God  it  could  never  have 
become  anything  else.     How  were  the  Gentiles 
to   be  brought    in  ?    The  Apostles  did  not 

351 


THE  SYMBOL 

know.  We  can  scarcely  imagine  them  even 
raising  the  question  whether  all  nations  were  to 
be  on  a  footing  of  equality  in  the  Church. 
Patriotism  and  religion  were  so  closely  inter- 
woven in  their  minds  that,  in  the  absence  of 
revelation,  they  would  naturally  infer  that  the 
Church  was  to  be  universal  by  a  universal  ex- 
tension of  Jewish  nationality,  and  that  the  Gen- 
tiles would  have  first  to  become  Jews  by  being 
circumcised  as  a  necessary  step  to  their  becom- 
ing Christians.  But  whatever  the  Apostles 
may  have  inferred,  they  came  to  no  decision. 
They  continued  to  evangelize  the  Jews  until, 
after  twelve  years,  God  gave  them  new  light 
through  Peter,  their  Leader  and  Chief. 


VI. 


Jew  AND 
Gentile. 


A  scene  fraught  with  signifi- 
cance is  set  before  us  in  the 
tenth  chapter  of  the  Acts.  By  a  heavenly 
ritual  more  expressive  than  words,  and  in- 
comparably more  impressive,  St.  Peter  is 
taught  that  the  Law  of  Moses  has  ceased  to 
bind,  and  that  no  man  is  henceforth   to  be 

d5ii 


OF  THE  APOSTLESw 

caUed  common  op  unclean.     He  is  th  n  led  to 
receive  a  Gentile  family  into  the  Clmrch  by 
baptis7ii,  and  without  any  rite  connecting  the 
converts  with  the  Jewish  nation.     On  return- 
ing to  Jerusalem  he  finds  the  brethren  greatly 
excited  over  the  admission  of  Cornelius.    Why 
was  he  not  fii.it  circumcised  ">     Was  this  the 
way  to  restore  the  KinoJom  to  («rael  >    Then 
Peter  tells  them  of  the  revr-lation  he  has  re- 
ceived, and  many  rejoice  witJi  imn  that  « in 
every  nation  he  that  feareth  God  and  worketh 
justice  IS  acceptable  to  Him."     The  solution 
of  the  great  problem  is  now  given.     To  the 
Apostles  at  least  it  is  clear  that  the  universality 
of  the  Church  involves  the  admission  of  other 
nations  on  equal  terms  with  the  Jews. 

vn. 

But  the  national  sentiment  ':  A  Crisis  m 
is  tenacious.  The  Christians  l!"^^^"^: 
of  Jerusalem  soon  lapsed  into  their  former 
state  of  mind.  The  case  of  Cornelius,  they 
told  themselves,  was  an  exception,  a  dis- 
pensation granted  by  God ;  but  the  general 

353 


THE  SYMBOL 


rule  must  be  circumcision,  after  the  manner  of 
Moses,  for  Gentile  converts.  Then  there  came 
to  them  one  day  an  item  of  news  from  Antioch 
which  disturbed  them  more  than  the  case  of 
Cornelius.  They  were  told  that  many  Gentiles 
had  been  received  there  without  circumcision, 
and  that  these  actually  called  themselves  Chris- 
tians, not  IsraeUtes  or  Galileans,  thus  empha- 
sizing their  independence  of  Israel.  This  time 
they  concluded  that  something  had  to  be  done 
to  counteract  such  anti-national  proceedings, 
and  some  of  them  hastened  to  A?;  I'>ch,  with- 
out any  commission  from  the  Apostles,  as  St. 
James  afterwards  explained.  At  Antioch 
'^  Paul  and  Barnabas  had  no  small  contest  with 
them."  The  peace  of  the  Church  demanded 
an  immediate  and  final  decision,  and  it  was 
agreed  to  refer  the  question  to  the  Apostles  in 
Jerusalem.  Thus,  what  is  called  the  Council 
of  Jerusalem  was  convened  to  define  the  nature 
of  the  Church's  catholicity.  Was  the  Church 
to  embra,ce  all  nations  on  a  footing  of  equality, 
or  was  she  to  embrace  them  through  one  privi- 
leged nation  ?  When  all  were  assembled  St. 
Peter  made  it  clear  that  the  case  of  Cornelius, 

354 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

instead  of  being  an  exception,  gave  a  divine 
ruling  for  the  admission  of  the  Gentiles.    St 
James  added  arguments  from  the  Prophets 
confirmmg  what  Peter  had  related,  "how  God 
first  visited  to  take  of  the  Gentiles  a  people  to 
His  name,    and  suggested  the  form  of  decree 
by  which  the  Church  was  freed  forever  from 
national  resta-ictions  in  rehgion.     There  must 
have  been  many  a  sore  heart  among  the  Jewish 
Christians  that  day.     To  see  their  nation  placed 
on  a  level  with  other  nations  in  religion,  and 
excluded  from  a  position  of  privilege  in  the 
Kingdom  of  God,  after  having  been  the  chosen 
people  for  so  many  centuries,  must  have  made 
submission  to  the  Apostolic  decree  a  hard  trial 

and  left  the  Church,  while  those  who  remained 
faithful  long  retained  a  degree  of  antipathy  to 
other  nations,  and  insisted  on  certain  Jewish 
practices  which  caused  much  friction  in  social 
intercourse  (Gal.  2;  12). 


855 


THE  SYMBOL 


vm. 


Tib  Church 
Cathouc. 


Thus  gradually  did  the  Church 
emerge  from  the  conflicts  of  the 
time  as  a  society  held  together  by  a  bond  of 
religion  superior  to  the  divisions  of  nationhood. 
This  was  something  the  world  had  never  seen 
before,  and  great  was  the  admiration,  and 
great  the  opposition,  it  excited.  A  many-na- 
tioned  Church  was  as  great  a  novelty  to  the 
Gentile  as  it  was  to  the  Jew.  Each  nation 
had  a  religion  of  its  own,  and  a  particular  re- 
ligion was  included  in  the  very  notion  of 
nationality,  in  much  the  same  way  as  each 
nation  was  supposed  to  have  a  particular  lan- 
guage. *'  Which  in  other  generations  was  not 
known  to  the  sons  of  men,"  says  St.  Paul,  re- 
ferring to  tliis  very  thing,  namely,  '•  that  the 
Gentiles  should  be  fellow-heirs  and  of  the  same 
Body  and  co-partners  of  His  promise  in  Christ 
Jesus  by  the  Gospel."  This  "  mystery,"  as  he 
calls  it,  had  been  revealed  to  him  as  to  the 
other  Apostles,  and  he  became  its  prophet. 
He  had  a  formula  of  comprehension  which  he 
repeated  everywhere,  with  slight  variations,  to 

356 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

convey  the  new  and  wonderful  truth  that  the 
Church  of  Chnst  is  above  national  divisions, 
that  one  member  of  it  cannot  call  another  a 
foreigner  with  respect  to  religion,  and  that  all 
nations  when   admitted  are   fellow-heirs   and 
co-partners    within   the    Church.     With    the 
great  dividing  line  of  nationality  he  sometimes 
enumerates  the  social  divisions  that  naturally 
go  with  It,  and  declares  that  these  too  find 
roon   in   one  Church.     "Christ  is  our  peace, 
who  hath  made  both  (Jew  and  Gentile)  one." 
There  is  no  distinction  of  the  Jew  and  the 
Greek.       «  I„  one  Spirit  were  we  all  baptized 
into   one   Body,    ..hether   Jews   or   Gentiles, 
whether   bond    (slave)  or   free."     "There  is 
neither  Jew  nor  Greek  ;  there  is  neither  bond 
nor  free ;  there  is  neither  male  nor  female." 
There   is   neither   Gentile  nor  Jew,  eircum- 
eision  nor  uncircumcision,  Barbarian  nor  Scyth- 
ian, bond  nor  free;  but   Christ   is  all  and  in 
an.       Ihis  was  not  merely  the  teaching  that 
man  should  cultivate  fellow  feeling  with  man, 
despite  all  natural  differences;  but  rather  that 
Christ   had   done  some  great    and  wonderful 
thing  to  reconcile  all  those  differences  in  one 

357 


THE  SYMBOL 

Body.  St.  Paul  was  stating  a  marvellous  fact 
visible  to  all,  that  a  mauy-nationed  Institution 
had,  through  Christ,  come  into  existence,  and 
this  Institution  he  calls  one  Body.  Hitherto 
the  people  of  God,  however  wonderful  in  other 
respects,  was  but  a  nation  among  other  nations. 
The  Church  of  the  Jews  was  national;  the 
Church  of  Christ  is — what  ?  A  new  word  was 
needed  to  express  the  contrast,  and  the  word 
Catholic  was  soon  found.  The  events  and 
the  circumstances  of  the  time  made  this  char- 
acteristic of  the  Church  more  prominent  and 
more  impressive  than  any  other.  The  con- 
tinual conflicts  with  the  Jews  and  the  Juda- 
izers ;  the  much-talked  of  Council  of  Jerusa- 
lem ;  the  novelty  of  a  many-nationed  Church  ; 
the  frequent  preaching  of  it  as  such  by  the 
Apostles  and  their  successors  ;  and  the  never- 
ending  conflict  between  duty  and  inclination 
in  those  who  admitted  and  admired  the  duty  of 
unity,  but  still  felt  within  themselves  the  work- 
ing of  the  old  heathen  or  Jewish  hatred  of 
foreigners — all  these  things  combined  to  give 


the   word   Catholic 
proper  name. 


the 


prominence   c*   a 


358 


KIZMmMT 


OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


IX. 


True  Com- 
prehensive- 
ness. 


The  early  Church  was  all-com- 
prehensive in  respect  of  national 
divisions  and  also  of  the  social 
divisions  within  each  nation.     Greek  and  Scy- 
thian, master  and  servant,  high  and   low,  rich 
and   poor,  male   and   female,   were   admitted 
without   distinction    and    worshipped   at    the 
same  alter.     This  comprehensiveness  or  catho- 
licity  of   the   Church   has    reference   to   the 
natural  divisions  among  men.     It  involves  the 
duty  of  being  liberal  in  the  things  that  are 
ours,  whether  national  or  social,  for  the  sake 
of   unity     n    the    things    that    are   Christ's. 
The  Church  of  the  Apostles   was   liberal  in 
matters   national  and  social,  but  conservative 
and  exclusive  in  matters  of  faith.     Those  who 
caused  divisions  in  doctrine  were  marked  persons 
and  to  be  avoided.     It  is  the  fashion  nowadays 
to    honor   the    Catholic     Name.     Even     the 
i-vangehcals  are  following  at  a  distance   the 
Anglican    example  of  respect    for    antiquity. 
A  nonconformist  catechism  published  in  Eng- 
land has  questions  and  muwen  regarding  the 

869 


THE  SYMBOL 

ho]y  CathoUc  Church  of  the  ApostW  Creed. 
This  revived  respect  for  the  name  does  not  yet 
inc  ude  a  realizbg  sense  of  the  stern  Scriptural 
reahty  which  the  name  connotes.     To  be  Uberal 
m  national  and  social  relations  is  one  of  the 
difficult  duties  which  CathoUcism  imposes.    To 
be  Kberal  in  the  things  of  Christ  and  thus 
make  Christian  unity  of  smaU   account  is  a 
pnvilege  to  which  the  natural  man  thinks  he 
has  a  right.     He   seeks   to  transfer  compre- 
hensiveness from   the  natural   sphere,  where 
Scripture  places  it,  to  the  supernatural  sphere 
where  Scripture  forbids  it.  * 


360 


^m'^^^m:^' 


APPENDIX. 


WESTERN  CREEDS. 
Cbmed  of  Cod.  Laud.  (Bodl.  Gr.  35). 

Creed  of  the  Bangor  Antipftonary 

dominutn  nostrum    d11  ""  ®'"'  "">«"«» 

„V,  / "  ^'x  «^>.  natnni  de  Marii\  uimne  nasBiim  onh  p^.>*- 


•cod.  arpo  lAw. 


*COd.  cneliH. 
*cod.  rfsurrechoni*. 

361 


*cod.  dfertem. 


APPENDIX. 

ad  dexteram  Dei  Patris  oranipotentis,  ezinde  uenturus* 
iudicare  uiuos  ac  mortuos.  Credo  et  in  Spiritum  Sanctum, 
Deuna  oinnipoteutem,  unam  habentem  substantiam  cum 
Patre  et  Filio ;  saucCam  esse  ecclesiaiu^  catholicam,  abre- 
missa"  peccatorum,  sanctorum  communionem''.  carnis  res- 
urrectionem  ;  credo  uitam  post  mortem  et  uitam  aeternam 
in  gloria  Christi.    Haec  omnia  credo  iu  Deum.    Amen. 

Creed  of  the  C.  C.  C.  MS.  468  (saec.  xv,). 


HtcTsvot  elf  >?cdv  naripa  navTOKpdropa,  itoit/t^v  ovpavov  koI  y^f* 
Kai  'I^aoiiv  Xpiarbv  v'tbv  avToi)  t6v  fiovoytvrj  rbv  Kvptov  ^ftav,  tov 
avX^^^ivra  en  irvevftarof  dyiov,  yevv^devra  tK  Mapt'ac  8  rw  »  irap- 
^ivov,  ira'96vTa  ini  IlovTiov  HMtov,  aravpu&ivra,  ^aiidtrra  *",  Kal 
Toifivra,  KareXddiiTa  eif  rd  Karurara'  ry  rpiri)  ^/iip^  avaoTavra  and 
Tuv  vcKpuv,  dvf Xi?(5vra  elf  roiif  ovpavovf,  Kadt^d/ievov  iv  de^KJt  ^eov 
narpbr  ■iravTofwd/MV  kKcii^ev  ipxdfievov  Kplvai  ^uirrac  Kal  vEKpovCt 
iriareuu  elf  to  ifvevfia  to  ayiov,  ayiav  ita^oXiK^'  EKKA^aiav,  ayiuit 
Koivtjvlav,  i<j>f.oiv  auapTtuv,  aapKcx;  avaoTaatv^  ^u^v  aluvcov.    ifi^v, 

[The  above  in  a  transliteration  from  the  Roman  charac- 
ters.] 

Creed  of  Ntcetas. 

(saec.  V.) 

Credo  in  Deum  Patreiu  omnipotentem,  et  in  Filium  eius 
lesum  Christum,  nutum  ex  Spiritu  Sancto  et  ex  Maria 
uirgine,  sub  Pontio  Pilato  passumcruciiixum  etmortuum. 
Tertia  die  resurrexit  uiuus  a  mortuis,  ascendit  in  caelos, 
sedet  ad  dexteram  Dei  Patris,  inde  uenturus  iudicare  uiuos 
et  mortuos.  Et  iu  Spiritum  Sanctum,  sanotam  eoclesiam 
catholicam,  communionem  sanctorum,  in  remissionem  peo- 

*  cod.  pylato.       '  cod.  diMcendit.       '  cod.  caelU.       *  cod.  usnturum. 
*  coA.  acccUn'am.       •  cod.  oAremisa.        '  cod,  com  montonem. 
•  cod.  Mop«io«  vid.  •  cod.  ■nn'  vld.  *'  cod.  tatnma  Tld. 

3G2 


APPENDIX, 
oatorum,  huiua  oarnis  resurrect ionem.  et  in  yitam  aeter- 

Creed  of  Aquileia  (Rufin.  in  symb.). 
(saec.  iv.) 

«. ?n  P^  "\'^V  ^^''^  omuipotente,  inuisibili  et  impassibili ; 
et  in  Christo  lesu.  unico  FiUo  eius  domino  nostro.  Z  natu^ 
es  de  Spxntu  Sanoto  ex  Maria  uirgine  crucifixus  u'b  C" 
Pilato  et  Bepultus  descendit  in  inferna.  tertia  die  resur^ 
rexit  a  mortuis.  asceudit  in  caelos.  sedet  ad  dexteran,  Pa- 
tns;  inde  uenturus  est  iudicare  uiuos  et  mortuos.  et  in 
Spintu  Sancto  j  sanctatn  ecclesiam.  remissionem  peccato- 
rum,  hums  carnis  resurrectionera. 

Creed  of  the  Prymer  (cent.  xiv.). 

(Maskell,  Monumenta  ritualia,  ii.  177.) 

I  bileue  in  god.  fadir  almyati,  makere  of  heuene  and  of 
erthe:  and  m  iesu  crist  the  sone  of  him.  oure  lord,  ooa 
aloone:  which  is  conceyued  of  the  hooli  gost:  born  of 
mane  maiden :  suffride  passioun  undir  pounce  pilat :  cruci- 
fied deed,  and  biried :  he  wente  doun  to  hellis  :  the  thridde 
day  he  roos  ajen  fro  deede :  he  stei^  to  heuenes :  he  sittith 
on  the  ri3t  syde  of  god  the  fadir  almy3ti :  thenus  he  is  to 
come  for  to  deme  the  quyke  and  deede.     I  bileue  in  the 
hooh  goost:    feith  of  hooli    chirohe:    commuaynge    of 
Beyntis :  for3yuenesse  of  synnes  :  aSenrisyng  of  fleish,  and 
euerlastynge  lyf.    so  be  it.  .    '      " 

EASTERN  CREEDS. 
Creed  of  Marcellus  (Epiph.  haer.  Lxxn.  3). 

^  Xliarevu  ek  ^edv  wavro^pAropa,  Kal  elc  Zptarb^  >l;,„ovu  rdv  vidv 
avrov  rdu  ^ovoyt^  ro.  Kipcov  ^^uv,  Tov  yiwrfihra  tKn^eifxarof 
irwvmi  Mafuat  m  na/^//^,Tdv  tTri  Jlovriov  IIiUtov  eravpu- 


vtifrntixix 


APPENDIX. 

^tvra  Kol  ra^hra  Ea2  tj"  rpir^  ^uep^  hvnar&vra  kK  ruu  vexpuVf 
'kva^&vra  elf  roirf  ohpavoiic  Kal  Ka&rjuevm)  iv  e^ig  rov  Jlarpd^,  'OiJei; 
IpX^fai  KpivEiv  Cuvrag  xai  veKpoti^'  Kal  f!f  rb  ayinv  Hvevpa,  'Ayiav 
kKkh/aiav,  'A^temv  d/tapriuv,  lapKof  avaoTociv,  Zu^  aluviov. 


The  Nicene  Faith. 

Jlurrtvofiev  eJf  iva  ^ebv  naripa  navroKpAropa,  irAvruv  oparav  re 
Kal  aopdruv  nonjifjv  k^I  elf  eva  Kvpiov  'Itjoovv  Xpiardv,  rdv  vidv  rov 
i?foi>,  yevvT/diiira,  ek  rov  narpbi  novoyevij,  Tovriartv  ex  t^c  oiiaiac 
rov  iTarp6{,  ^ebu  ek  ■&eov,  ^6f  ek  ^rdg,  '9ebi>  aXr/&ivbi>  ek  ^eov 
a^Jldivov,  yEvvr/^evra  oh  iroijj&ivra,  6/ioovawv  ri^  irarpi,  6i*  ov  ra 
navra  iyivETO  rd  re  iv  r<^  o'vpavt^  Kal  ra  iv  ry  yy'  rbv  6i'  ()//4f  rotif 
av^pi>irov(  Kai  Jtd  r^v  finEripav  aur^piav  narE^^dvra  Kal  aapKu^ivra, 
ivav&puiriiaavra,  iraddvra,  Kol  avaaravra  ry  rpiry  ^uipgi,  avEM&vra 
eif  ovpavovc,  Kal  ipx^fiEvov  Kplvai  ^ovra£  Kal  vEKpoi)^.  Kal  e((  rd 
ayiov  nvEv/ta. 

Early  Creed  of  Jerusalem. 
(Collected  from  Cyril. 

TluTTE()Ofiev  elf  iva  ^eov  iraripa  navTOKpdropa,  noitfri^  ovpavov 
Kal  yvc,  oparuv  re  navruv  Kal  aopdruv  Kal  cif  iva  Kvpiov  'I^aoiv 
Xpiardv,  rbv  vlov  roii  "•Eoii  rbv  /lovoysv^,  rbv  ek  roii  narpbf  yEvvij^- 
fvra  ^Eov  a/.r?9y"v  Kftb  irdfruv  rcjv  aluvuv,  6i  ov  rd  irdvra 
iytvero'  pKuv  rra  Kal  Evav&puiT^avTa,  oravpui^tira  Kal  raipii^ra, 
dvaarmtra  rj"  rptry  fjptp^,  Kal  avsMov^a  eif  Toif  ovpavoii,  kuI 
mMoavra  e«  6':^i£>v  mv  irarp6^,  Kal  ip^d/XEVov  iv  66^y  Kplvat  fuvraf 
Kbx  Hfdpnf  oi  Ttjc  f>aoikEi<ir  oiiK  iarai  re^of.  Kal  fiv  iv  dyiov 
rrvciipa,  rbv  wapaKXr/rov,  rb  XaA';aav  iv  ro2f  npof^cui'  Kal  elf  Iv 
SdTrrtapa  pi  nmia(  t,-,  ^latv  apaprujv,  H.a.1  elf  piav  dyiav  kw^oXik^v 
iKKXijriav,  nat,    f  aapm<:  dvdoTaatv,  Kat  ei^  ^u^v  (uitvuiv. 


APPENDIX. 

Creed  of  Constantinople. 

r^Aof.     Kal  etc  rb  nvthur,  .a   -  '      "      '^'^  /^«<^'^"af  ovk  iorai 


365 


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MICROCOPY   RBOLUTION   TEST   CHART 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


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LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES  CONSULTED  IN  THE  PREP- 
ARATION OF  THE  PRESENT  VOLUME. 

MiONE,  Patrologia  Latina. 
"        Patrologia  Graeca. 
Semeria   Giovanni,  Dog^na,  Qerarchia  e  Culto  nella 
Chiemprimitiva,  Roma,  1902. 

L'ABBE  FouROEZ,  Le  Symbole  des  Apotrea  defendu  et 
vengi,  Paris,  1868.  ^^jenau  et 

18^*.  ^"   ^''^'''  ^"  Introduction  to  the  Creeds,  London, 

1889."^'  ^'=''"^'^'=^''  ^'  ^'^^  etSymbolo,Oxomi  et  Londini, 

?"n\?'If'''^'  ^''  ^i'O""^*'  Creed,  Cambridge,  1899 
A.  C.  McGiFFEUT.  The  Apostles'  Creed,  New  York,  1902 
A.  Harnack,  The  Apostles^  Creed,  London.  1901 

don.  f87r^'''''''''  '^^'  ^''"'  ""^  ^^'"'''  ^'"'^'^  Lon- 

P.  SCHAFF,  Creeds  of  Christendom  (3  vols.),  New  York 
and  London,  1899.  /»  ^  «w   lorK 

F.  Zahn,  TTie  Apostles'  Creed  London.  1899 

Bon;b!yf'l'9Sr"'  ^''  ""'''"'^  '^'''"''  ^«-  Y-^'  -'^ 
^^BisHOP  Pearson,  ^«  i7.rpo«,Yion  of  the  Creed  (2  vols.). 

J^H.  Blunt,  Theological  Dictionary,  London   1872 
THE  Abbk  Fouard.S^  Peter  and  the  First   Years  of 
L/iruttanity,  London,  1898. 

367 


LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES  CONSULTED. 


W.  Sanday,  Recent  Research  on  the  Origin  of  the  Creed 
(in  The  Journal  of  Theological  Studies,  Oct.,  1899). 

J.  R.  Gasquet,  The  Apostles'  Creed  and  the  Rule  of  Faith 
(in  The  Dublin  Review,  Oct.,  1888,  and  April,  1889. 

Saint  Iren^us,  Works  (translated  by  the  Rev.  John 
Keble,  M.  A.),  Oxford  and  London,  1872. 

J.  H.  Newman,  Development  of  Cl.ristian  Doctrine,  Lon- 
don, 1894. 

L.  PuLLAN,  The  Christian  Tradition,  London,  New  York, 
and  Bombay,  1902. 

Also,  The  Faith  of  Catholics,  A  Catholic  Dictionary, 
The  Summa  of  St.  Thomas,  The  Bollandists's  Acta  Sancto- 
rum. Commentaries  of  Cornelius  a  Lapide,  Cursiis  Theo- 
logiae  Sacrae  (Migne).  Church  History  (Eusebius,  Socra- 
tes, Zozomenes,  Natalis  Alexander,  Baroniua,  Alzog,  Dar- 
ras,  Rohrbacher),  Pliny's  Letters,  etc. 


368 


INDEX. 

ABBREViATlOxs  :  Ap.  =  .Vpostle  ;  Bp. =Bishop  ;  C.  ^Council. 


ABBfe  FouARD.  lu-3  theory  of  the  origin  of  Cr    c  9  s  1 

ALKX^OKK  Pope  and  Martyr, /nr.o^«o.,o,;;  s  o';Bp  of 
Alexandria,  c.  5,  s.  3.  »    •  "  ,  op.  oi 

Alexandria,  Cr.  of,  c.  5,  s.  10. 

Articles  of  Faith,  meaning  of  c  12  s  o 

Articles  of  Cr.,  c.  13 ;  number  of,  lb  s  7l 

ATHAXASIUS,  Lib.  de  Trlnit,  whether  his,  c.  5    s    1   f  • 

witnesses  to  tradition  of  Apost.  authorship  of  S  ,    i/ s' 

sLttltl  T''  ''  ''--''-  wJappro'Jat 

^ncora^«,  of  St.  Epiphanius.  c.  5,  s.  13 

t'lxtlf^:?'  T"  "^  'y  ^"^  ^-'-'  -  « =  original 
one  fi3  s  1     •irr'''''  ^""""  not  two  form!  but 

ANxiocVRiVFarrr;;^/'  ^^•"^^^^^^'  ^-  ^^- 

Ancyra,  Cr.  of,  c.  5  s  6  ' 

Apostolic  Constitutions,  Cr.  of.  c.  5,  s.  1,  f. 
Aquileia,  Cr.  of  f  1   «  •?  .   A         /• 
A  a,,.  '  '^-  •'•  '  Appendix,  p. 

Athelstav's  Psaltor,  c.  3,  s.  3 

"  ""TsTif  "  ^'"'^  "■'•  "'  ^'•-  °-  ^'  «•  '^ '  i°  ««-«°th  art., 

8G9 


INDEX. 


Attributes  op  God,  identical  \7ith  essence,  c.  4,  s.  4. 
Augustine,  St.,  and  Discipliue  of  the  Secret,  c.  1,  s.  5, ; 

and  authorship  of  Cr.,c.  4,  as.  5, 6, ;  Symbol  of,  lb.  s. 

3  ;  spurious  sermons  of,  c.  1,  s.  4  ;  c.  13,  s.  12. 
Ambrose,  St.,  and  authorship  of  Cr.,  c.  1,  s.  2. ;  reputed 

work  of,  c.  1,  s.  5. 
Apostolic  Tradition,  and  Symbol,  cc.  1,  8,  9,  10. 
Aquinas,  St.  Thomas,  on  meaning  of  art.  of  Faith,  c.  12,  s.  2. 

B 

Baptism,  bestows  S.,  c.  3,  s.  6. 

Baptismal  Cr.,  in  the  East,  c.  5,  ss.  4,  7,  10. 

Baptismal  Formula,  basis  of  Cr.,  c.  3,  s.  2. ;   c.  12,  s.  1 ;  c. 

13,  s.  tl. 
Basil,  St.,  and  Discip.  of  Secret,  c.   1,  s.  6, ;  and  Ap. 

Auth.  of  Cr.,  c.  5,  s.  13. 
Beatific  Vision,  and  Symbol,  c.  1,  s.  7. 
Belief,  nature  of,  c.  12,  s.  1. 
Baumer,  Dom,  c.  1,  s.  1. 
Birth,  Virgin,  c.  5.  s.  9. 
"  Body,"  op  Church,  c.  13,  s.  9. 
Burn,  A.  E.,  c.  3,  s.  3, ;  c.  5,  s.  1  ;  c.  8. 

C 

"  Carnis  resurr.,"  last  art.  of  Cr.,  c.  3,  s.  4 ;  c.  12,  s.  11. 

Carthage,  Cr.  of,  c.  4,  s.  2. 

Caspari,  c.  2,  s.  2. 

Cassian,  and  Ap.  author,  of  S.,  c.  5,  s.  18. 

Catacombs,  witness  of,  c.  3,  s.  3. 

Catechumens,  three  classes  of.  Introduction,  s.  7. 

"  Catholic,"  when  added  to  Cr.,  c.  13,  s.  4. ;  name,  lb.  s. 

5,  and  c.  14, 
Christ,  Author  of  Cr.,  in  what  sense,  c.  6,  s,  7. 
Cr  RYSOSTOM,  St.,  witnesses  to  Discip.  of  Secret,  c.  1,  s.  6 ; 

to  Ap.  auth.  of  Cr.  indirectly,  c.  5,  s.  13. 

370 


INDEX. 


one  and  visible  c  1^  «  s        .™*"«'  i^-  ^-   6  and  f .  ; 
Ih  a  0.    K-    !'    :     '   •  ^' '  '*''^*'^^®  an<l  -^visible   Iiow 
Ib.s.9;  object  of  fai;h  and  teacher  of  the   faitrc' 

Church  Quarterly  Review,  c  1  s  3  f 

Clement  of  Rome,  and  Old  Roman  Cr.,  c.  7,  s.  5 
Codex  Laudianus,  c.  3  s  3 

"Communion  op  Sain^"  when  added  toCr..c  13  s  S  • 
meaning  of.  c,  13,  s.  6.  '        " ' 

Comprehensiveness,  true,  c  14  s  9 

"Conceived,"  implied  in"  born'."  c.  3  s  4 
Constantinople,  Cr.  of,  c.  5,  s.  1 
CoNSTANTius,  letter  of  St.  Hilary  to,  c.  5,  s.  7. 

"CONTESSERARIT,"  c.  3,  S.  8. 

Creation,  work  of,  lies  in  order  of  nature,  c.  13  s  9 

r  XcTr.^'^^  ™'"  -'^^  ^^^e^  to  Cr. 
Canon  op  Scripture,  c.  6,  s.  10 

Chrysoloous.  St.  Peter,  and  Discip.  of  S^^cret  c  1  s  ^ 
COUNCIL,  OP  Jerusalem,  c.  14.  s.  7 ;  of  Nice    c  's!;  'l    of 

Antioch,  lb.  s.  8,  ;  of  Saidica,  c.  13,  s.  4 
CREED,  Old  Roman,  c.  3,  s.  4;  of  Irena^us,  c.   3.  s   6  ■   of 

c.  4,  s.  2  ,  of  Nice,  c.  5,  s.  1 ;  of  St.  Hilary,  lb.  33  7  8  • 

"""^Sitli"  i^.'-^''  iT'^'T'  ^^"^  ^'•-   t^«  "Apostolic 
Secret,  Introduction,  s.  11, ;  c.  1,  s.  6. 

371 


INDEX. 


Deposit,  m  Pliny,  c.  7,  s.  3 ;  in  St.  Gregory  Nazianz.,  c.  5 
8.  13  ;  in  St.  Paul,  c.  8,  s.  8 ;  another  name  for  Cr.,  lb. 

Descent  into  Hell,  the ;  implied  in  "  buried."  c.  1  s  3 
and  c.  13,  8.  10.  »  .    •  ". 

DidacM,  the,  Introduction,  s.  6. 

Didascalia,  the,  c.  5,  s.  1. 

DiONYSius,  of  Alexandria,  c.  5,  s.  10. 

DioNYSius,  of  Rome,  lb. 

Disciplina  ArcGni,  cf.  Discipline  of  the  Secret 

Discipline  op  the  Secret,  its  origin  and  motive  cause. 
Introduction,  ss.  7,8. ;  guarded  S.,  c.  1,  s.  5;  accounts 
for  fragmentary  forms  of  Cr.  citations,  c.  3,  s.  5. ;  c. 
lU,  s.  7. 

E 

Epiphanius.  cites  Cr.  of  Marcellus.  c.  3,  s.  3,;  declares  Cr. 

to  have  been  composed  by  the  Apostles,  c.  5,  «.  13 
Epistles,  Pastoral,  contain  allusions  to  Cr.,  c.  8  s  6 
EucHABisTic  Sacripice,   came  within  Discip.  of  Secret, 

Introduction,  s.  6. 
EuNOMius,  witnesses  to  Ap.  author,  of  Cr.,  c.  5,  s.  3 
Eusebius,  c.  5.  B,  9. 

Evidence,  subjective  and  objective,  c.  6,  s.  8. 
East,  Cr.  in  the,  c.  5. 

Exposition,  unfolds  but  does  not  add  to  meaning  of  C 
c.  3,  s  4.  **  ' 


Faith,  S.  so  named  in  the  ^last,  c.  5,  s.  4, ;  formal  object 
or,  c.  13  ss.  1,3.;  articles  of,  c.  13 ;  subject  matter  of. 
c.  6,  ss.  9.  10 ;  definition  of,  c.  13,  s.  1 ;  Rule  of,  c.  6,  s. 
v.,  and  passim. 

••  Father."  in  Cr..c.  13,  s.  11. 

"Father  Almiohty,"  of  seventh  art.  why  added,  c  3  s  4. 

372 


INDEX. 

"  Forgiveness  op  siv«  "  r,^f 

2,  ss.  5.  6  '    °^'  '^P'"^^^^^  ^'^  «^rl7  Cr.  forms. 

FuLaENTius,  St.,  witness  of,  c.  4,  s.  3. 

G 

Germany,  Hilary's  letter  to  Bishops  of  c  5  s  8 
Gnostics,  c.  6,  ss.  9,  10,  u,  ig.  ^  '  "  *''  ^-  ^• 
God,  one  in  three  c    12    J  q. 

cannot  b^o.,.;  He'ti?,    o.Tr„ri,°''  "'  '"•  ^  = 
Gregory  Nazianz.,  c.  5  s  13  ^' 

Greek,  much  used  by  lettered  Romans  in  the  fir,f 
tunes,  c.  3,  s.  3.  ®  °'^'^''  cen- 


Harnack,  a.,  cc.  3,  5,  8 
HErx,  doscent  of  Christ  into,  c.  13,  s.  8. 
Hilary,  -.t.,  Bp.  of  Poitiers,  and  Ap   auth  of  Pr        . 
7;  witnesses  to  Discip.  of  Secret  lb  s    «     \'''  ^'  '' 
to  existence  of  S.  in  the  East!  lb  Ls  7  8        "       "''' 
Historical  CancisM,  method  of  c  3  s'  3-1..  •        u 
^    acter  of.  c.  10.  s.  9,  and  c.  13  s  13         '  ^       """  ''^'^ 
HERETics^and  D.  of  Secret,  Introduction,  s.  3  •  Cr  of  in 
second  century,  c   6  s  6  '»•*>•.   '-i .  of  m 

Holy  Ghost,  work  and  gifts  of,  c.  3,  s.  2,;  c.  13,  s.  9. 


Ignatius  Martyr,  tessera  of,  c.  5,  s  11 
Incarnation,  third  art.  of  Cr    c  13      " 
iBEN^us.  St.,  Cr.  of   o  2   a   a  .'     '  X    X 

auth.  of  Cr.,  c.  3  si  ' '  ^"^^^''^  ^'*"«««  ^  ^P- 

ISIDORE  OF  SEVILLE,  knd  Rule  of  Faith,  c.  10,  s  5 

373  *   * 


INDEX. 


Jerome,  St.,  and  auth.  of  Cr.,  c.  1,  s.  2, ;  and  motiva  of 

omissions  in  Nicene  Cr.,  c.  5,  s.  1. 
Jerusaj^m,  Mother  Cliurchof,  c.  2,  s.  2 ;  Cr.  of  an  Eastern 

Cr.,  c.  5. 

Judgment,  general,  eight  art.  of  Cr.,  c.  12,  s.  7. 

Julius,  Pope,  c.  5,  s.  6. 

Justinian,  Emperor,  and  mathema,  c.  8,  s.  10. 

Justin  Martyr,  and  S.,  c.  5,  s.  11. 

John,  Ap. ,  "  teaching  "  of,  c.  8,  s.  10. 

K 

Kattenbusch,  c.  6,  8.  10,  and  passim. 
Keryoma,  and  S.,  c.  10. 


Laity,  and  the  "mysteries,"  Introduction,  s.  7. 

Leo  I.,  the  Great,  and  auth.  of  S.,  c.  1,  s   "" 

"Life  everlasting,"  addition  to  Cr.,  c.  U,  s.    11;  gloss 

on  the  resurrection,  lb. ;  not  in  Cr.,  of  St.  Augustine, 

c.  4,  s.  2. 
LooFS,  Dr.,  c.  2.  s.  2. 
Luther,  c.  6,  s.  13. 
Li.'jRGiCAL  use  of  S.  not  the  primary,  c.  3,  s.  2. 

M 

"  Maker  of  Heaven  and  Earth,"  when  added  to  Cr.,  o, 

13,  s.  2. 
Marcellus  of  Ancyra,  Cr.  of.   Appendix;  an  Eastern 

Cr.,  0.  5,  s.  6. 
Marcion,  of  Pontus,  c.  6. 
Maximus  of  Turin,  St.,  c.  4,  s.  3. 
Means,  Stewart,  c.  8,  s.  1. 
Method  of  Historical  Criticism,  c.  2,  s,  3. 
Method  op  Present  Wovjk,  lb. 

374 


INDEX. 

Milan,  Cr.  of,  c.  4  s  2 
Moitm,  Do:i,  c.  i,  s.  i.  ' 


N 


Nkwman.  Cardinal,  on  D.  of  S.    Introd   -tin  o 

meaning  of  "  cannen,"  c  7  s  i  *'"'  ''  ® '  °« 

Nice,  Council  of,  c.  5,  s  1      ' 
NiCENE  Cr.,  lb. 
NiCETAS.  on  "  communion  of  saints  "  c  n  «,  <i 

NOVATIAN,  C.  5,  s.  10.  '  • 

NOVATIANS,  C.  iO,  S.  4. 
NOVAJUS,  c.  9,  s.  2. 

o 

OMNIPOTENCE,  Si.  Augustine  on,  c.  4  s  4 
Origen,  "plain  rule  "of  c    5  «,   o  •,     . 

lb.  s.  10.  '        •  ^-  ^' '  P"P^J  of  element's. 

Okigin  of  Cr.,  pa««^,«  .•  of  Catholic  Name,  o.  14. 


Paul,  Ap.,  c  8.  s.  7,  and pa.wm. 

i'AUL  OP  SaMOSATA,  C.  5    s    2 

Pearson,  Bp.,c.  5,8.  lo',f.   ' 

PENiTENCY,inCr.ofIren«us.c.2  s  6 

PEHSONS,intheGodhead,c.l2s  9 
Peter,  Ap..  c.  8,  s.  6. 

POLfCARP,  Bp.,  c.  8.  8.  10. 

;;  Pontius  Pilate,"  in  S.  of  St.  Justin,  c  5  s  i, 

^RAXEAS,  early  heretic,  c.  6,  s.  10  '      "* 

^SALTER  of  Atlielstan,  c.  3,  s  3 

PUSEY,  c.  10,  8.  5. 


■  QmcK  AND  DZAD."  in  eighth  art.,  c.  2.  ss.  5.  6 

375 


INDEX. 


Rationalist,  the  German,  c.  3,s.  3. 

Redditio  Symboli,  o.  8,  s.  5. 

Reformation,  so-called,  c,  6,  s.  13. 

Regeneration,  sacrament  of,  c.  5,  s.  11, 

Relation,  of  Cyril's  Cr,  to  Old  Roman,  c.  5,  s.  5. 

Relations,  ours  to  tlie  B.  Trinity,  c.  12.  s.  1. 

Rfsuruection,  of  Clirist,  c.  12,  s.  8 ;  ours,  lb.  c.  11. 

RlEZ,  Faustus  of,  c.  13,  s.  3. 

Rome,  heresy  took  not  its  origin  thence,  c.  9,  s.  2. 

Rule  of  Faith,  passim. 

Rule  of  Truth,  anotlier  name  for  S.  c.  10,  s.  7. 

"  Requla,"  meaning  of,  c.  6,  s.  10. 

Ravenna,  Cr.  of,  c.  1,  s.  3.,  and  Appendix. 


S 


"  Sacramentum,"  meaning  of,  c.  6,  ss.  5,  8. 

Sacrifice,  and  D.  of  f    Introduction,  a.  6. 

Saints,  see  "Cnnmu.aon  of." 

Self-explaining,  additions  to  Cr.,  c.  13,  s.  2. 

Sin,  remission  of,  whether  in  S.  of  TertuUian  and  Irenseus, 

c.  2,  S3.  5,  6. 
Smyrna,  letter  of  Church  of,  c.  13,  s.  6. 
Socrates,  c.  5,  s.  2. 
Soul  of  Christ  in  Limbo,  o.  12,  s.  8. 
"  Soul"  of  Church,  c.  13,  s.  9. 
"Suffered,"  addition  to  Cr.,  c.  4,  s.  3. 
Swainson,  Introduction,  and  c.  10. 
Swete,  c.  13,  s.  7. 
Symbol,  meaning  of,  Introduction,  c.   1 ;  the  Christian 

Watchword,  c.  6,  s.  6  ;  the  Old  Roman,  Appendix. 
SOZOMEN,  c.  5,  s.  2.  V 

Scripture,  and  Symbol,  c.  8,  s.  5. 

376 


»  0_ 


INDEX. 


•;TEACHixa,-ofSt.John,c.  8  s  6 

T.ssK.u."ofTertuUia„.e.3,.s.8. 

Tho  us  OP  Aquin.  see  Aquiras. 
Traddio,  see  /J^dr/,Y/o  Syniholi. 
Trinity,  the  Blessed,  c.  13,  s.  1. 

U 
Unity  of  Church,  c.  13,  s.  8. 

V 

Valentinus,  early  heretic,  S.  of,  c.  6  s  6    f 
Valentinians,  lb.  '       '  '• 

ViGILIUS  OF  THAPSUi,c.  13,8.10 

Virgin  Birth,  0.5,  8.  9. 

W 
Ward,  Mrs.  Humphry,  c.  ^.  s.  6,  f . 
Will  of  God,  and  origin  of  evil,  c.  4,  s.  4. 

Z 

Zahn,  c.  13,  8.  9,  and  passim. 


377 


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